Love Is: Protection
by redsandman99
Summary: The first in my new Love Is series. When Matt finds out how bad Adam's relationship with Dave is, he finds himself becoming the unlikely protector of the Rated R Superstar. But can he deal with his changing relationship with Adam and Dave's wrath?
1. Chapter 1

Matt grumbled under his breath as he walked through the arena hallways. Jeff had accidentally run off with his cell phone (or maybe it wasn't an accident—one could never tell with Jeff) and he needed it back at the moment. He was supposed to have called Shannon back hours ago, and he really didn't want to borrow anyone else's phone to do it. His phone conversations with Shannon often ended up being ridiculously long and inappropriate. No matter what they talked about, the subject always ended up getting weird and perverted and at the moment, Matt needed that distraction.

He could feel everyone staring at him as he searched for his little brother. He knew they were all talking about his recent break-up with Evan Bourne. They had dated for about six months, and even though Matt had really cared about the high flyer, little things had started to pile up and they had both agreed that it was probably best to break things off before they ended up hating each other. But just because the break-up was peaceful didn't mean Matt felt very good about it. In fact, he felt like complete and total shit, although he had been doing his best to hide it from everyone.

"Mark, have you seen Jeff anywhere?" Matt asked the Deadman, who was sitting in catering with Glenn. "I need to get my cell phone from him."

Mark shook his head. "I have no clue where that little brother of yours is. I think Hunter said he saw him like ten minutes ago near the restrooms by the entrance to the ramp, but he's probably not there now."

Matt sighed. "Thanks man." He decided to look by that area anyway, just in case anyone had seen Jeff go off anywhere else. As he was walking, he happened to past Dave's locker room. He didn't so much as glance at it at first. He had no reason to. He had never been close to Dave by any stretch of the imagination, and he had no real desire to now that the Animal was dating Adam. How that couple formed was a subject of great debate within the locker room. A lot of people agreed it was probably just lust, although Jeff had an interesting theory about hell freezing over that Matt was inclined to agree with.

The sound of something crashing into the lockers came from inside the room. Matt stopped as he heard another crash, only this one was followed by a pain filled whimper. And it definitely wasn't Dave whimpering. _Jesus, what is Adam doing in there? Is he tripping and falling all over the place?_

"You fucking little bitch!" Dave growled. He was so loud that Matt actually flinched. He had never heard the older man talk like that outside the ring. He was usually really calm and quiet. "How fucking stupid do you think I am? Did you not think I would see the way you were flirting with Cena?"

"I wasn't!" Adam protested. His voice was so weak that Matt almost didn't hear him. "Dave please, I swear I—"

Matt's eyes widened as he heard the sound of a fist connecting with a face and Adam's cry of pain. _What the fuck? Did Dave just fucking hit Adam?_

"Hey Matt, I've been looking for y—"

Matt clamped his hand over Jeff's mouth just as Dave started yelling obscenitites at Adam, who was possibly crying at this point. It was hard to hear it because Dave was being so damn loud. Matt looked over at Jeff, who looked as shocked as he felt. Dave was basically accusing Adam of being an ungrateful, selfish cockslut, only he did it with the word "fuck" being used every two seconds. He was also doing it while hitting his boyfriend. Matt didn't need to see a damn thing to know what was going on in that room. He could fucking hear the blows from where he was standing at the moment. Part of his mind was telling him to do something; even if he still didn't really like Adam, it was wrong to let this happen. But his feet were rooted to the spot he was standing at now; it was like the shock of what he was hearing was preventing them from moving.

"You fucking dumb whore! You better have yourself cleaned up by the time I get back, or there will be hell to pay!"

Matt quickly took Jeff and made him hide in the nearest janitor's closet so Dave wouldn't see them as he came out. "Matt we can't just—" Jeff started to whisper.

"Shhh!" Matt ordered. He listened carefully to Dave storming away. Once the Animal's footsteps could no longer be heard, he opened the janitor's closet and stepped out of it. "That was really fucked up."

"Fucked up? I don't think that even begins to describe it," Jeff replied. He grabbed Matt by the arm and started pulling him along. "Come on. We have to check on Adam."

Matt sighed as he and Jeff went into Dave's locker room without permission. They found Adam sitting on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and a gigantic bruise already forming on his face. The poor man jumped about a foot in the air when they entered, and he looked even more afraid of them than he would have if it had been Dave.

"No," he muttered. He started shaking his head violently. "Oh fuck no, not you two. Go away."

"Yeah, like we're going to do that," Jeff said as he shook his head. He knelt down beside Adam and took a look at the side of his face. "We heard way too much to just ignore that."

Adam glared at the two of them. Matt didn't know if it was the shame of his situation of being found out or the fear of Dave finding out that they knew that was making the Rated R Superstar angry. It was probably a combination of both. "You two don't know anything, okay? So just go away and mind your own fucking business!"

Matt was tempted to just do that. He didn't owe Adam a damn thing. He didn't have to help him. But for reasons he could not explain to himself, he didn't leave. In fact, he found himself locking the door so Dave couldn't just walk in.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Adam asked. He went from being angry to petrified in two seconds. "You can't lock that thing! If he comes back and realizes I'm locked in here with two guys, he's going to think I did that!"

Jeff gave Matt an uneasy look. "Matt…"

Matt ignored him and pulled Adam to his feet. The whimper he received from the blonde man was not lost on him. "Let me lift your shirt up," he ordered.

Adam stared at him in shock. "What?"

"I heard him slamming you into lockers. I want to see the damage."

"Why? Why do you even care? You hate me."

"Yeah, but Dave shouldn't fucking be using you as his personal punching bag. Now will you let me lift your shirt up or can you do it?"

Adam sighed and lifted his own shirt up, even though it looked like it was causing him a great deal of pain just to do that. Matt and Jeff winced at the sight the fresh bruises on his back and the slightly faded ones that covered his ribs.

"Jesus," Jeff muttered. "How the hell can he do this to you?"

Adam let his shirt drop back down. "It doesn't matter," he muttered. "You guys just need to leave, alright? You need to go away and keep your damn mouths shut. You don't know what I'm going through and believe me, you don't want to."

Several unpleasant memories reared their ugly head, but Matt did his best to suppress them. "I wouldn't say that Adam," he muttered. "I wouldn't say that at all." He grabbed Jeff by the arm. "Come on, we need to go."

Jeff protested the whole trip from Dave's locker room to their locker room. "We can't just leave him there!" he whined. "I know we don't like him, but that's not a good excuse to let him get the crap kicked out of him again."

Matt shook his head. "He doesn't really want our help yet Jeff. He needs to really want to get out of that situation before we can really help him. Believe me, I fucking know what I'm talking about."

Jeff bit his lip. "Fuck, I almost forgot you went through that shit too once."

Matt didn't say anything in response to that. His situation had been years and years ago, and he would rather keep that piece of his past buried as much as he could. The less he thought about it, the better. Although, now that he reflected on it, it made him realize two things. One was that his own experience with getting beat up by a boyfriend was the reason he even gave a shit about what was happening to Adam. And the second thing was actually pretty scary: this whole thing was probably going to escalate even more before Adam realized he needed to leave. And even if he did realize it, knowing he had to leave and actually doing it were going to be two very different things. Dave was also a very possessive person, and Matt had a bad feeling that he was not going to let Adam go without a fight.


	2. Chapter 2

Adam didn't know how he made it through the show that night. His whole body hurt so bad that he could barely stand it. Dave had done such a number on him that he felt like he had just survived two TLC matches in a row. Now he was trying to get his stuff all gathered up before Dave came back. Dave always got pissed off if he took too long. And when Dave got pissed, bad things always started to happen.

"Fuck," Adam whimpered as he tried to pick up his bag. His back and ribs hurt so badly that he had to immediately drop his stuff. He took several deep breaths before trying again, but he ended up bending down too fast and nearly throwing up from the pain it caused him.

God, why the hell was he allowing this shit to be done to him? Why did he keep fucking let Dave keep beating the hell out of him over and over again? He sank down on to the nearest bench and thought about it. He realized it was because he was truly afraid of Dave. When they had started dating, Dave had nothing but a sweetheart. But Adam soon learned the hard way that it was all just an act. The violence started during a heated argument with just one slap. Dave had immediately apologized and Adam had believed him.

That had been the biggest mistake of his life.

The slaps started to get more and more frequent, and they started happening even when they weren't arguing. Soon the slaps turned to punches and kicks, and then things started to escalate into severe beatings. Any little thing could set Dave off, and it seemed like no matter what Adam did, he was always doing something Dave hated. Today he had apparently flirting with John, even though he was only trying to help his on screen enemy and off screen friend decide what he should get Shawn for their anniversary. John and Shawn had been dating for two years now, and the man just wanted to do something special for his boyfriend. And all Adam had wanted to do was help out a little. He wanted to make Dave understand that, but he was afraid to bring the subject up again.

He sighed and buried his face into his hands. His life was such a mess and now fucking Matt and Jeff knew about it. It made him feel even worse than before. What if Dave found out they knew? Adam knew he would be fucking killed if that happened, and he didn't feel like that was an exaggeration. Dave would probably really beat him to death if the truth got out.

"Are you ready to go?" Dave asked impatiently as he came in. He was obviously completely agitated, and Adam pretty much knew right then and there he was in for a long night.

"Yes," Adam managed to say as he stood up and grabbed his bag. It was hard trying to suck up the pain and just walk, but he did it because he did not want to keep Dave waiting. Things would only get worse if he did that.

Dave shook his head as he watched the blonde man move like a crippled man. "You brought this on yourself Adam," he said without an ounce of sympathy in his voice. "I told you not to flirt with the other guys here, but did you listen?"

"I never flirted!" Adam protested. He knew he should just nod and agree with what Dave was saying, but he hated being accused of things he never did. "John wanted to know if I had any good ideas of what he should give Shawn for their anniversary."

Dave snorted. "Yeah, because you have such great fucking ideas." He rolled his eyes and turned around. "Stupid fucking little liar."

Adam hung his head as he followed Dave out of the arena. It hurt his feelings that Dave not only thought he was a liar, but a stupid one on top of it. He got into Dave's car and didn't look up until they got into their hotel room. That was when he tried to just lay down, but Dave stopped him.

"Why the hell are you acting so pissy tonight?" Dave asked. He pulled Adam closer to him, ignoring the whimpers from the smaller man. "I didn't do anything to you that you weren't already asking for."

"I didn't get asked to be used as a human punching bag!" Adam snapped. He tried to wiggle free out of Dave's grip. "Please let me go. I'm really tired and I just want--"

Dave slugged him in the face, causing him to fall back on to the bed. "I fucking hate it when you talk too much babe," he said as he took off his shirt. "Your voice is really fucking irritating."

Adam bit his lip as Dave started to undress him. He didn't want this, but he was too tired and afraid to protest. Besides, he knew Dave was going to take him whether he fought or not, and it always hurt worse when he fought it. So he just closed his eyes tightly and he let Dave stretch him out roughly with three fingers and no lube and then he let Dave fuck him, his body feeling no real pleasure whatsoever. Dave didn't seem to mind that because at least HE was getting off. He also didn't seem to mind that Adam had his eyes shut. Adam was at least thankful for that. As long as he could keep his eyes shut, he had an easier time disassociating himself from his own body.

When Dave was done, he rolled off of Adam and turned on the TV. Adam just stayed still and kept his eyes clothes until he eventually heard Dave's extremely loud snoring. That was when he opened his eyes, slipped his boxers back on and crept into the bathroom.

_I fucking hate my life. I fucking hate it so bad._ Adam was used to those words running through his mind over and over again. He had that thought every single fucking day of his life, and it was all because of Dave. He sat down on the toilet and stared at his hands. Thoughts of suicide began to creep into his brain. They had becoming more and more frequent lately. Some part of his mind truly believed that it was the only way he was ever going to escape his hell. But he couldn't seem to get the courage to just do it. He was afraid of dying, which probably meant the whole suicide thing wasn't going to work. But he knew that if things kept getting worse, he was eventually going to become more afraid of living than he was of dying. And when that day came, he would finally be able to do the unthinkable: he was going to end his pain and suffering himself. He would kill himself and it would all be because of Dave.

Yet somehow, deep in his gut, he knew Dave wouldn't care. And if his own boyfriend didn't care if he died, who in the hell was going to? John? Jeff? Matt? That last thought made him shake his head. Maybe there had been a time Matt would have cared, but that time had passed years ago. And it was all because of his own stupidity. He had destroyed the best friendship he had ever had because of jealousy. Only he hadn't been jealous of Matt; he had been jealous of Amy. Matt had been the first guy he had ever had feelings for, and he had been in an extreme denial back then. He hadn't wanted to admit that he was into guys, so he had stolen Amy from Matt in an effort to get rid of the feelings inside of him.

But everything backfired. The feelings never went away; they just got stronger and stronger, which made him feel even worse because he had gone and destroyed any chance of ever being with Matt. Even now that he had come to terms with his sexuality, he doubted Matt would ever really forgive him for that. And quite honestly, that hurt more than anything Dave had ever done to him ever would.


	3. Chapter 3

Matt had a hard time concentrating on anything else for the next few days. His thoughts kept drifting back to Adam. No matter what he did, he could not get the blonde Canadian out of his mind. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was worried about the guy. He could only imagine the things Dave could be doing to him.

Jeff was worried about him too. He was constantly bugging Matt about it, and he was even making blueprints of how they could rescue him. Matt wasn't sure why they needed blueprints, but when Jeff was making them, he was at least quiet, so Matt just let him do it. It kept him distracted while Matt made some phone calls.

The first person he called was Jay, seeing as how he was still really tight with Adam. But Jay would not answer his phone, so Matt just left a message saying to call him back. Then he tried calling John, but Shawn just answered it and said that Cena was busy wrestling with one of his brothers and that he was going to have to call back too. That was when Matt started getting frustrated and as he called Randy, he vowed to kick the Legend Killer's if he could not talk on the fucking phone.

"Casa de Orton, this is Randall speaking," Randy said with a fake Hispanic accent as he answered the phone.

"Hey it's Matt."

"Ah, Senor Matthew Moore Hardy! Tell me, why are you bugging me on this--"

"Hold on," Matt interrupted. "Just stop for a second. Why are you talking like that? You sound absolutely ridiculous."

Randy sighed before going back to his normal voice. "I'm watching Spanish soap operas right now. I don't have a clue to what's really going on, so I'm making up my own stories for them."

"Wow, I think you might have just out gayed yourself. I did not know that was possible."

"Shut up Matt. Why did you call me anyway?"

Matt sighed. It was time to get down to business. "I need to talk to you about Adam and Dave."

"Okay. What about them?"

"Dave's abusing Adam."

There was just silence coming from Randy's end of the phone. "What?" Randy finally yelled. "Are you sure?"

"I'm damn sure. Jeff and I overheard it, and we saw the bruises. And Adam was obviously terrified of Dave."

"Shit," Randy cursed. "I always knew Dave was an asshole, but I didn't know he was this bad."

Matt nodded, even though he knew Randy couldn't see that. "Well we need to do something. And I was thinking that since you used to date him, maybe you could talk to him and help him realize he needs to leave Dave."

Randy took a deep breath. "Uh Matt? I don't know how to tell you this, but I'm not going to be the right person to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because I know him. And either though we dated, it was never about love. He couldn't have loved me anyway, because his heart has belonged to someone else for a long time now."

Matt frowned. "Who the hell are you talking about?"

"You of course."

Now it was Matt's turn to be silent for awhile. Adam loved him? Adam fucking Copeland loved him? "What? Are you on drugs again Randy? Because we've talked about this!"

Randy sighed in frustration. "Matt, the whole thing with Amy was a desperate attempt to deny his true sexuality. You're completely comfortable with being bisexual, but he freaked the fuck out when he realized he was falling for you. He did a stupid thing to try to lie to himself, and he's been paying for it for years. He doesn't think you'll ever love him or even really forgive him for that matter. But Matt, despite whether you'll forgive and even come to love him back or not, YOU have to be the one who helps him. YOU are going to be the ONLY one he'll listen to."

Matt didn't know what to say to that. He had a hard time accepting the fact that Adam loved him. But as he stopped to think about it, some of Adam's previous actions with Amy had been way too exaggerated. Maybe hindsight really was twenty-twenty. "But what the hell do I say to him?"

"I think you might already know Matt," Randy said cryptically.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on Matt. You've admitted that you've always felt more attracted to guys than girls. In fact, Amy was your only actual girlfriend. Jeff said it took you forever to admit that you loved her because you got hurt so badly by your first actual boyfriend. I used to think he meant emotionally hurt, but then I saw all the guys you went with after you and Amy called it quits. Evan was the biggest example of them all. None of those guys could even begin to hurt you physically. And that was when I realized what Jeff wasn't actually saying: you've been abused too."

_Damn it, I hate it when he gets all perceptive like this. The bastard can't even keep his own love life stable, yet he knows just about everything about everyone else's._ "Okay, okay, I'll talk to him," Matt said. "Just--"

"Keep your past on the down low? Don't worry Matty, you're the first person I ever admitted I knew that too. I'm not going to go off and blab to the whole world. And don't be mad at Jeff for saying anything. I don't think he thought I would actually figure out the real truth. He thought I would just take his words at face value."

"Well you should have," Matt grumbled. "It would have made me feel a little better."

"Sorry Matt."

"I know you are, so don't worry about it. I should have known people were going to find out sooner or later." He took a deep breath. "Do you think I should tell Adam?"

"Yeah, maybe you should. It might help him realize he doesn't deserve all that shit he's being put through." There was a slight pause and then it sounded like Randy was talking to someone else on his end of the phone. "Hey Matt, listen, I have to--"

"Go? Yeah, I figured you did," Matt said. "I'll talk to you later man."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye." Matt hung up the phone and leaned his head back against the couch. This was a lot of information to take in. Apparently Adam love him, Randy was a philosopher in his spare time, and he was going to be the one that would have to save the day. He wasn't sure if he was up to it though. He knew from his one bad experience that everything was going to get much uglier before it got better…if it got better anyway.

Jeff came in and sat down next to him. "Who were you talking to?"

"Randy. Oh, and thanks for telling him about Sam. I really appreciate that."

"What? I didn't say anything about--"

"Well you said enough to let him put pieces of the puzzle together." Matt shook his head. He wasn't really angry at Jeff; he was just really frustrated. "It's been fifteen fucking years since that bullshit went down, but now it feels just like fucking yesterday dude."

Jeff hugged him sympathetically. "You've never really made peace with it dude. You just kind of buried it deep inside you and tried to repress it."

"Well do you fucking blame me?"

"No but you do need to come to terms with it man. And you need to help Adam too. Daddy helped save you from Sam and now it's your turn."

Matt didn't say anything. He didn't need to. He knew that despite all of the baggage he and Adam had, Adam didn't deserve to get mistreated like this. Adam had made an honest mistake in trusting and loving the Animal just like Matt had a mistake when he was nineteen years old, when he had fallen in love with and nearly got killed by an ex-con with a penchant for violence. And if he didn't hurry, Adam could possibly meet the same fate he had almost suffered after two years under Sam's control. And he did not want that for his old friend. He did not want that at all.


	4. Chapter 4

Of course, getting Adam all alone so they could talk proved to be a challenge for Matt. Dave was around almost all the fucking time, and it was starting to show in Adam's physical appearance. Matt could tell he was wasting away and that wasn't a good thing. Something bad was going to happen if something wasn't done quickly. That was why Matt found himself at Legacy's locker room, knocking on the door like there was no tomorrow.

Randy was the one who answered the door. It only took him a moment to realize something was up. "What's going on?"

"I need you, Cody and Ted to get Dave out of the way," Matt said immediately. There wasn't much time to waste. "I can't get to Adam because the big idiot is always there."

"Okay," Randy said without hesitation. He looked back into his locker room. "Boys, get your pants back on! We've got an important mission to fulfill."

Matt frowned. "Uh Randy---"

"It's not what you think," Randy said quickly. "They were comparing their scars on their legs."

"Yeah sure, whatever you say. Just make sure you get Dave really distracted. I can't have him interrupting me too soon." Matt walked away and found himself a hiding place near Dave's locker room that would allow him to see everything that was going on outside of it. Just a few minutes later, Randy, Cody and Ted came by and started pounding on the door.

"Hey Dave!" Randy yelled. "Get your old wrinkly ass out of here! I have something to say to you!"

Matt just winced. He had only told him to distract Dave, not get all three of them killed. _I hope they run fast, or this is not going to end pretty._

Dave came barging out of the room. "What the hell do you want Orton?" he snarled.

Randy just gulped. For a moment, it didn't look like he was going to say anything. But then he did the stupidest thing he could possibly do: he smacked Dave right across the face.

Matt did not know who could possibly be more shocked by what had just taken place: him, Randy or Dave. But Dave's shock quickly turned into fury and he attempted to snatch Randy by the throat. Randy was able to jump back in time, and the three members of Legacy took off as fast as they could with. Dave was right on their heels, allowing Matt to come out of hiding and go into Dave's locker room.

Adam's eyes widened when he saw who was coming in the door. "Damn it Matt, you can't be in here! Are you trying to get me killed?"

Matt shook his head. "No, I'm just here to help you." He grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Adam. "We need to talk."

"No we don't," Adam said stubbornly. He cast an anxious glance at the door. "You got to get out of here Matt. If Dave comes back--"

"Dave's not coming back until he catches Legacy," Matt interrupted. "And he's not as fast as they are."

"But--"

"Look, we don't have time to keep interrupting each other. You cannot stay in this relationship. You do not need to take this shit from Dave."

Adam shook his head. He obviously did not like being cornered about this. "What the fuck do you know Matt? Dave, he…he…" He couldn't even finish the sentence. It was like his self imposed denial to the rest of the world was slipping, which was what Matt wanted.

"Dave does not love you," Matt said firmly. "Take a look in the mirror Adam. Look at your bruises. Someone who really loves you would not do that to you."

"God Matt, you act like this is so easy. You act like I can just pack everything up and leave Dave. It's not that simple!"

"I know it's not."

"How? How on earth would you possibly know?"

"Because it happened to me too."

Adam looked stunned by that news. "What?"

"I was nineteen when it started," Matt said quietly. He did not like having to tell this story, but it needed to be done. "Some friends of mine and I snuck into a club. That's were I met a guy named Sam. He was twenty six and I pretty much fell for him right away. I was young and naïve, which in retrospect, was probably what he was looking for. We started hanging out and soon we were a couple. Things were great for the first few months."

"The first time he hit me…I just told myself it was a one time thing. And when it kept happening over and over again, I told myself I was bringing it on myself. But soon I realized that I had gotten myself into some real trouble that I couldn't get myself out of. Sam was scary possessive of me. He would freak out on me if I didn't answer his calls. One time I was downstairs and Jeff ended up getting to the phone before I did. He had figured out what was going on and they got into a screaming match. It was fucking terrible, and that was how Dad found out."

Adam swallowed hard. "What did he do about it?"

"He dug into Sam's past first," Matt replied. "Sam hadn't told me a lot about his past and there was a reason for that. He had been in jail for six years for beating his ex-boyfriend so badly that his face was nearly crushed in completely." He shook his head. "I knew I couldn't stay with Sam, so I broke it off with him. But he wouldn't leave me alone. He just kept harassing me and trying to scare me. Then Daddy got fed up with that, and every time Sam would come over, he started taking a shotgun and just point it at the bastard until he went away. He started coming over less and less, but I was still afraid that he was going to get me when I was out and about and Dad wasn't around."

"Did he ever--"

"He got arrested again before that could happen. He committed another assault in Raleigh, and I haven't seen him since then. He never came back to get me." Matt's glanced at the door. He hoped that Randy and the others hadn't gotten themselves killed yet. "Adam you can't let yourself go through this anymore. Dave's going to fucking kill you if you let him keep doing this to you."

Adam appeared to be breaking down somewhat. "But he'll just kill me if I leave," he said desperately. "Matt I can't--"

His words were cut off by the locker room door slamming open. From a distance, they could hear Randy and Ted yelling just as Cody was being tossed in roughly. Dave came in, slammed the door shut, and gave them a furious look. "What the hell is going on in here?" he snarled.

Matt gulped. Oh shit, they were so busted.


	5. Chapter 5

Adam had never felt more terrified in his entire life. Dave was going to murder him, Matt and Cody. He didn't see how that wouldn't happen. The Animal looked so angry that it was a shock that his head wasn't exploding right then and there. On instinct, he started cowering back, hoping that if he was going to die, it would be a quick death.

"I asked you a question Adam," Dave growled. He was going to snap at any moment. "What the FUCK is going on in here?"

"We were just having a little conversation," Matt informed him. He put himself between Dave and Adam.

"A conversation about what exactly?"

"How he deserves a boyfriend who doesn't kick the shit out of him," Matt said bluntly. "I've heard you hit him. I've seen the bruises. And I don't care who the fuck you think you are; you are NOT laying another fucking finger on him."

Adam did not know what to think at this point. He had some dreams before where Matt had come to play the knight in shining armor, but he had never really thought it would happen. He had screwed everything up with Matt to the point where everyone believed it would never get fixed. But here was Matt, standing up to Dave and putting himself directly in harm's way. _Wait, what am I thinking? I can't let Matt get killed by Dave._ "Matt please just go," he begged quietly. "Things are going to get worse if you stay."

"Oh it's beyond worse already," Dave snarled. "You just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you, you little bitch? No, you had to go running to Matt fucking Hardy of all people. Don't you remember that he hates your guts?"

"Things change Dave," Matt growled. He got right in Dave's face. "Now you better back the fuck off right now, or I am going to put you down right here and now."

_He's going to what?_ Adam thought incredulously. He stole a glance at Cody, who looked like he did not believe what he had just heard either.

Dave smirked before shoving Matt as hard as he could. "I'd like to see you try Hardy."

Matt didn't give a verbal response to that. Instead he just speared Dave to the ground and let his fists do the talking. Adam didn't know what to do, so he just stood there and watched as the man he loved for years beat up the guy who had been hurting him for so long now. He almost felt like cheering Matt on, but he was afraid that would just enrage Dave even more, which would be really bad.

The door was kicked open and Randy, Ted and Jeff walked in. Randy immediately went to help Cody up to his feet while Jeff went over to Adam and Ted just watched Matt and Dave.

Suddenly Dave managed to roll himself on top of Matt and it was his turn to start the punching. Jeff and Ted immediately tried to pull the bigger man off, but Dave shoved them away like they were nothing. Ted ended up falling back into Randy (who had been coming to interfere) and Jeff ended up being pushed into the lockers, where he hit his head pretty hard.

Matt heard Jeff's cry of pain and he tried to fight even harder. But he was in a bad position and Dave was able to deflect most of his blows easily. Finally, Adam just had to do something. He couldn't just stand there like an idiot, especially since he knew what Dave was capable of when the Animal got someone pinned down. He grabbed the back of Dave's shirt and started pulling off of him. "Get off of him!" he pleaded. "Leave him alone!"

Dave turned around and punched Adam so fast that he didn't realize what had happened until he ended up on his ass. His lip busted open on impact, and he whimpered in pain. He licked away some of the blood, hating the coppery taste that got on his tongue. This was not the first time that Dave had made him bleed. Hell, that hadn't even been the hardest he had ever been hit. But there was something about this time that made the hit feel like a knockout punch. Maybe it was because there was a room full of witnesses this time.

Dave stood up and started going after Adam even more, but Matt managed to sit up and hit the Animal with a low blow. Adam scrambled out of the way as Ted, Cody and Randy took Dave the rest of the way down. They started kicking the shit out of him, obviously wanting to get as many blows as they could before they were interrupted. Adam crawled over to Matt, whose face was already starting to swell and bruise. But if it was bothering him, he didn't show it. Instead he forced himself to get up to his feet and then he pulled Adam up too.

"You okay?" Matt asked quietly.

Adam only managed to nod. He was very aware that Matt had his arms around him. The closeness was enough to make it really hard to breathe. _Don't pass out Copeland. Don't make yourself look any more pathetic than you already have._

The door opened again and in walked Mark. "What the hell are you people doing?" he growled.

Everyone froze in their tracks. There was a long minute of silence. Then Jeff did what every little brother was best at: he tattled. "Dave hit Adam and Matty and he gave me a bump on my head." He grabbed Mark's hand and put the Deadman's fingers on where that bump was supposed to be. "You feel that? That's Dave's fault."

Now some would question why Jeff wasn't making a bigger deal out of Matt and Adam's injuries, but the truth was, Mark had a soft spot for Jeff (even though he always denied it) and it was the perfect way to get him to go after Dave. Adam watched as Mark's eyes darkened and he knew Dave was going to get it.

"Boys, you need to vacate the room," Mark growled. He was looking at Dave with an almost murderous gleam in his eyes. "I need to talk to Batista here alone."

Legacy backed off quickly, and they helped usher Jeff, Matt and Adam out of the room. Adam put his hands on Matt's arms, almost afraid to be let go. He knew that he was past the point of no return. He couldn't go back to Dave now; hell, he didn't really want to. If he went back now, he would basically get beaten to death in the near future. Hell that could still end up happening if Dave didn't get finished off for good, so what was the point in going back?

Matt's thumb went up to the corner of Adam's mouth. "You're still bleeding," he said quietly.

Adam went to lick the blood away, only he got some of Matt's thumb instead. They both just went still and just looked at each other. Adam's heart was pounding in chest so hard that he thought it would burst. _Does he know how I feel? How the hell would he know? Did Randy fucking open his big stupid mouth?_

John and Shawn stumbled out of the janitor's closet at that moment. John's shirt was on inside out and Shawn's hair was completely messed up. As they panted for breath, they stared at the bruised and battered superstars in front of them. "What did we miss?" Shawn asked innocently.


	6. Chapter 6

Matt wasn't sure who called the gigantic group meeting, but he doubted that it was what Adam needed at the moment. Then again, with the threat that Dave posed, maybe everyone needed to be in the loop to help out. All he did know was that currently, he and Adam were sitting in a his hotel room with Jeff, Mark, Glenn, Phil, Randy, Cody, Ted, Shawn, John, Morrison, Jay and Evan. Everyone was looking at Mark, who just looked beyond pissed off.

"Fucking security pulled me off of Dave before I could get done with him," he growled. It literally looked like he was going to lose it completely in a few seconds. "And I know that bastard too well to think that he's going to give up easily. If he really still wants Adam back, then we already know he's going to try to get him back."

Matt winced as Adam whimpered and clung to him even more tightly. The blonde man had not let him go since they had escaped Dave's locker room. He accidentally looked at Evan, and he could see the hurt look in the younger man's eyes. Even though everyone had been filled into the fact that Dave had been hurting Adam, it was obviously still hurting the younger man to see Matt holding another man in his arms. But to his credit, Evan was at least trying to hide that hurt and focus on what needed to be done: protecting Adam.

"I want everybody to stay together as much as they can," Mark said. His voice told them that this was not up for debate. "Somebody always needs to be with Adam, which from the looks of thing, Matt will probably be that somebody."

Matt smoothed down Adam's hair as best as he could. "Jeff, I want you to not be alone during all this. You need to stay close to me or Mark or somebody else." Now while he didn't credit Dave with a lot of intelligence, that didn't mean that the bastard wouldn't target Jeff or anyone else in an effort to make Adam come back to him.

Jeff just nodded. He knew that this was not the time or the place to whine about being treated like a child.

John laced his fingers with Shawn and kissed the older man's hand. "What about Hunter? Do you think we can get him to help us?"

Shawn shook his head. "He and Dave are too close. I don't want to trust him too much in case he takes Dave's side. Besides, our hot and cold friendship has officially turned to ice again."

John frowned. "What? You haven't said anything about that!"

"I didn't want you to worry about it."

Understanding filled John's face. "Because I'm the cause of it, aren't I? He doesn't like that you're with me still."

"Just don't worry about it right now baby. That's not what's important at the moment."

"I can't do this," Adam said quietly, making everyone stop and look at him.

"Can't do what?" Matt asked gently.

"I can't ask you guys to protect me. I'm not worth you all getting hurt for."

"Sure you are buddy," Jay said quickly. "You're our friend…when you're not being isolated by a bulked up asshole who keeps you on a short leash."

Adam shook his head. "I can't…I just…" He stopped talking and went to go hide in the bathroom.

Morrison shook his head. "Jesus, he's a mess. What the hell did Dave do to him?"

"I think he broke him," Phil said wisely.

Matt got up and tried to get in the bathroom, only to find that Adam had locked the door. "Adam," he said as he knocked on the door, "can I come in?"

At first he didn't get a response, but then he heard the sound of the door being unlocked. He let himself in and shut the door behind him. Adam was leaning up against the sink, and he was absolutely refusing to make eye contact. "I know this is a stupid question, but how are you doing?" Matt asked.

Adam shook his head. "Why are you being nice to me Matt?" he whispered. "Don't just say it's because of what you went through with Sam, because that doesn't explain it enough to me. It's not enough to make you stop hating me for what I did to you."

Matt sighed. He should have known that question was going to be asked. "Randy told me why you did what you did with Amy," he admitted. "And I realized that in retrospect, I should have seen it coming. I had deliberately ignored signs about how you felt instead of dealing with them." He leaned back against the door. "Besides from that, it's been over four years now Adam. I'm tired of hanging on to all that anger and hate. It's a bunch of baggage that I don't need."

Adam still refused to look at him. "Evan didn't look very happy with me."

"Evan understands why you were being all clingy. It's just hard for him to see me with another guy." Matt shook his head. "But that doesn't mean anything. I don't think we're going to get back together. Deep down, I think we both know that we're better off as just friends. I don't think the little things that turned into bigger issues than they needed to be would get resolved even if we gave it another shot."

"Well what about us?" Adam asked. He finally looked at Matt. "We've got baggage too. Who says that won't get in the way again?"

"I can't answer that Adam," Matt said honestly. He slowly approached the blonde man and rested his head against his. "I really only know two things right now."

"What are they?"

"One is that I want to keep you as far away from Dave as possible. And the other is that it wasn't until all this started that I realized just how much I've missed you. What you did with Amy hurt me real bad, but I don't care anymore. I'm tired of hating you for it. I just want you back in my life."

Adam shook his head stubbornly. "I don't deserve your forgiveness Matt. You have to know that."

Now it was Matt's turn to shake his head. "My dad always told me that forgiveness isn't always about whether the person deserves it or not. Sometimes you need to forgive because you both need it."

"Your dad's a smart man."

"He's one of the smartest men I know." Matt put his arms around Adam and held him tightly. He couldn't fully explain to himself or anyone else how exactly he felt towards Adam at the moment. Was it because he loved Adam back too in some way? Was it a romantic love or was it just from their old friendship? Would a relationship between him and Adam even work?

_Stop grilling yourself to death big brother,_ Jeff's voice told him. _Just go with the flow and left things take their course. You don't need all the answers right away._

Matt almost grinned. Jeff had told him that so many times over the years that he had lost count of all the times it had been said. And honestly, it was good advice, but there was one thing that took precedence over it: protecting Adam. He had to keep Adam away from Dave, or there would be no relationship to develop. And that was not what Matt wanted to happen. He didn't want that to happen at all. _Fucking Dave better leave him alone or I'll kill the stupid bastard. I swear to GOD I'll kill him._


	7. Chapter 7

Adam spent the night in Matt's room. The decision had been made for him by Matt himself, and he wasn't going to argue with it. He felt safe when he was with Matt, and that was something he hadn't felt in quite awhile. Every night he had spent with Dave, he had felt like he had been walking on eggshells. Any little thing had the potential of setting Dave off, and he had been constantly terrified of the larger man's wrath. But now he was being protected by Matt, and he didn't want to worry anymore. Matt wouldn't let Dave hurt him if he could help it. Matt cared about him, which was a foreign idea to him. Having someone to take care of him and protect him even when he didn't deserve it…it was nice feeling.

But that didn't help him sleep any easier. Dave invaded his dreams, beating him until he was near death or making him watch as he hurt Matt. "Stop it!" Adam screamed, thrashing around on the bed and trying to fight off a man who wasn't even there. This had been his sixth nightmare in the span of four hours. "Leave him alone! Matt! Matt!"

"Adam stop it!" Matt said. "I'm right here! You're dreaming! You're dreaming! Wake up honey."

Adam opened his eyes and started bawling. His nightmares felt so real to him. He could feel Dave's hands abusing him and he could see Dave hurting Matt so well that it felt like it was actually happening. "Matt…" he choked out between his sobs. He clung to the dark haired man like his life depended on it.

"It's okay," Matt assured him. "I'm right here. I'm right here. He's not going to hurt you."

"He had you and he just kept hitting you," Adam sobbed out. Now that he had started talking, he just couldn't stop. "I tried to stop him but I couldn't…"

Matt kissed the top of his head. "You need to calm down, okay?" he said gently. "It was just a nightmare. It hasn't happened and I have no intention on letting it happen, okay? Can you try to calm down for me?"

Adam took several deep breaths to try to calm himself down. Having Matt hold him helped matters. But then he thought of something that he hadn't thought of before, and that made him panic all over again. "Oh shit," he groaned as he moved away from Matt and went to go check his cell phone. He looked at the number of missed calls and nearly fainted. Dave had called seventy eight times. Seventy eight fucking times. Adam felt like he was going to faint. Dave had to be absolutely seething by this point. It was a wonder that he wasn't breaking down each and every door to get his hands on Adam.

Matt took the phone away from him. "Jesus Christ," he muttered as he saw the number of missed calls.

"He's going to fucking kill me Matt," Adam whimpered. He felt so scared that he could hardly breathe. "He gets mad when I don't answer the phone the _first_ time he calls. What is he going to do to me now that I haven't answered this many times?"

"Your phone was on silent Adam, you couldn't have heard it," Matt said. He set the cell phone down on the table and tried to comfort the distraught man. "And I'm not letting him hurt you again. I don't care how many times he calls; you are not going to talk to him. I don't want him telling you a bunch of bullshit so you'll go back to him."

"But what if he just makes me go back?" Adam asked desperately. Matt didn't seem to understand the danger they were both in. "He could hurt you and get you out of the way so he could take me back by force!" He shook his head. "I can't go back to him! He's going to kill me if he gets the chance. Maybe it won't be on purpose, but he'll still do it!"

"Adam calm down!" Matt pleaded. He tried to grab a hold of the blonde man. "You need to calm down for a minute."

But Adam was not going to calm down. He was not going to calm down at all. He had worked himself into a complete state of panic, and in his mind, there was no calming down. All he could think about was Dave. His ex was out there somewhere, no doubt plotting a way to hurt Matt and destroy him for good this time. _I can't let him get me_, Adam thought desperately as he went into the bathroom. He was so distracted by his own desperation that he didn't notice Matt following him. _I have to escape so he'll never hurt me again…_

Matt's eyes widened as he saw Adam grab the razor that was in there. "Give me that!" he shouted as he snatched it away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Adam tried to grab the razor out of Matt's hands. "Please Matt, I need to," he begged desperately. "I can't let Dave hurt me again."

Matt shook his head. "This is not the answer Adam. Killing yourself will not solve anything."

"But I don't know what else to do!" Adam sobbed. He buried his face into Matt's chest and started crying. "Look at what he's done to me. I'm so fucking pathetic!"

"You are not pathetic," Matt said as he hugged Adam tightly. "You're just scared, and I don't blame you for being that way. You have every right to be scared. But you can't let him get you thinking that suicide is your only way out. Suicide is not your only option, okay?"

Adam sniffled and tried to calm himself back down. He wanted to be strong for Matt, but it was so fucking hard. "Can you lay with me tonight?" he asked quietly. He needed Matt to be right by his side, or he didn't think he was going to make it through the night.

Matt nodded. "Of course I will."

Adam sighed as Matt led him back into their bedroom. He was hoping that he hadn't woken up the rest of the hotel with his outburst. The last thing he needed was having people who had overheard his breakdown. "God I'm so fucking pathetic," he muttered as he crawled back into bed. "He fucking broke me Matt."

"You're not pathetic," Matt said as he laid down beside Adam. "Don't talk like that."

"But--" Adam was shocked as hell when Matt cut him off with a kiss. He froze for a moment, but when Matt showed no signs of stopping, he started to kiss back tentatively. Slowly but surely, he began to calm down.

After a few minutes, Matt finally broke the kiss. "Better?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Any time."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dave stared down at his bleeding knuckles. He had been in such a rage earlier that he had punched several holes into the walls. The punching had calmed him down to the point that he could sit down, but it didn't change the fact that Adam was off with Matt Hardy of all people. Matt had given Adam a set of balls, and now his little bitch thought he could just not answer his phone. Well Dave was not going to put up with that. Adam could ignore phone calls, but there were other things Dave could do to make his bitch realize he wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Now Dave had considered calling Hunter and making his old Evolution team member help him find a way to get Matt suspended indefinitely, but in the end, he had decided against that. For now anyway. Hunter was dealing with his own jealously issues between John and Shawn, and that would get in the way of what Dave wanted. And he did not want that. He did now want that at all.

Finally he got up and started grabbing his bags. He couldn't just sit there and stew in his own anger. Damn it, he was Dave Batista: he was a man of action. He was going to make Matt and Adam regret crossing him. He was going to destroy everything that Adam cared about, and he was going to start his mission with a bang. _Oh Adam, you have no idea who you've crossed. You think you do, but if you thought you had it bad before, you have no idea just how much worse I can get._


	8. Chapter 8

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Adam asked for what was probably the tenth time in an hour. He seemed completely confused about the plan Matt and Jeff were looking to fulfill.

Matt sighed. "Yes Adam. Jeff and I are completely sure." He got into the car that would lead them away from the Tampa airport. "Jay and Morrison are already down here to make sure the coast is clear. We're going to pack up your stuff and we're going to move you to my place in Cameron."

"It'll be fun," Jeff said cheerfully. "Do you remember what fun is Addy? It's stuff we do that makes you smile."

"Yeah, well, I haven't had much of a reason to smile lately," Adam muttered. "I'm too busy worrying about my psycho ex-boyfriend."

Matt sighed and took one of Adam's hands as he continued to drive them to the blonde man's house. Adam was coping as best he could, but this whole thing had been extremely hard on him. His coping skills were not at their best at the moment, and that was all thanks to Dave.

Jeff's phone rang at that moment. "Yay, I have a call," he said happily. "Hello? Hi Jay! What--" his cheerful voice trailed off and his jaw dropped about as far as it could go. "What do you mean Adam's house is on fire?"

"WHAT?" Adam yelled, nearly causing Matt to wreck the damn car. He spun around to face Jeff. "MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE?"

"Jay hold on, I'm putting it on speaker," Jeff said. He took the phone away from his ear and pressed one of the buttons. "Okay, say it again so Matt and Adam can hear you."

Jay took a deep breath. He sounded like he was freaking out. "Adam I'm sorry, but your place is pretty much gone. Morrison and I got here and there were just fire trucks everywhere. We've talked to the cops that are here and we told them about Dave."

"That son of a bitch!" Matt snarled. He knew what Morrison and Jay had been thinking, and he was on the same page as they were. This was no random accident. Dave had purposefully set Adam's house on fire. That was the only reasonable explanation he could come up with.

Adam, who had turned completely pale by this point, buried his face in his hands. "Oh God, why can't he just leave me alone?" he asked desperately. "Why is he doing this to me?"

"He's an asshole," Jeff said bluntly. "Jay tell the cops we're almost there. We're going to back up your statements about Dave being responsible for this."

Matt's knuckles were turning completely white as he kept driving towards what was now going to be the remains of Adam's house. He absolutely wanted to throttle Dave now. He had known the asshole wasn't going to quit easily, but burning down Adam's house had crossed a line that shouldn't have even been approached.

"What the hell am I going to do Matt?" Adam asked. His voice was shaking. "My stuff…fuck, my life was in that house."

"I know it was," Matt said quietly. He was strongly reminded of what he and Jeff had gone through when Jeff's house had burned down, but at least that had been a damn accident. This time there was a bulked up psycho who was to blame for this. "We're going to deal with this. We're going to deal with it and get you through it as best we can, okay?"

Adam nodded, but that didn't change the fact that he looked scared and traumatized. Things didn't get better when they arrived at what was left of the house. The flames were just finally going out, and it was easy to see that there was no way anything survived the blaze. Matt held the Canadian's hand tightly as they pushed past the vultures who had come out to watch the destruction so they could get to Jay and Morrison, who were still talking to the cops.

"Here he is," Morrison said. "Adam's here. He owned the house."

Matt squeezed Adam's hand reassuringly as one of the cops stood in front of them. "It's going to be okay," he whispered. "You're going to be fine. Just answer their questions and you'll be fine."

"Mr. Copeland, I'm Officer Davis."

Adam gulped. "My ex…he…he…"

Officer Davis nodded. "Mr. Reso and Mr. Morrison have already shared that thought with me. I need to hear it in your own words though. Why would Mr. Batista do this to your house?"

"He was abusing me and I just got away from him a few days ago. He's been calling me nonstop and…" Adam shook his head. He was too afraid to go on, and luckily the cops were able to see that.

"Mr. Copeland, do you have anywhere you can stay that will be safe?" Officer Davis asked gently.

"We were going to get his stuff and take him up to my house in North Carolina," Matt said.

Officer Davis nodded. "Here, give me some numbers that I can use to contact you while we investigate the cause of the fire. If Mr. Batista is as dangerous as you all claim, then I think it would still be best to get somewhere safe as quickly as possible."

Matt couldn't agree more. He motioned for the others to follow him as he led Adam away from the scene. "Do you have any clothes that Adam can borrow until we get him some new stuff?" he asked Jay as they went back towards his car.

Jay nodded. "I've got plenty of shit he can have. Hell, I've got stuff that's actually his, so he can definitely have it back now."

Jeff stuck his hands in his pockets. "God this sucks. I fucking hate Dave right now."

"You're not the only one," Morrison said. He ran his hand through his long brown hair and sighed. "You know what we need to do, don't you?"

"Kill Dave," Matt growled.

Adam looked at the dark haired man fearfully. "Matt you can't! Dave's nuts, he'll--"

"I can't just sit back and let him get away with this shit!" Matt said angrily. He hadn't meant to yell at Adam, but he was so pissed off that he couldn't control the volume of his voice. "He just burned down your house. He needs to pay for this shit."

"And what if he gets the best of you Matt?" Adam asked quietly. "What if he hurts you and takes you out completely? Who's going to protect me then?"

"Well that's why we should go with my plan," Morrison insisted.

Jay frowned. "What is your plan?"

"We rough Jeff up and then tell Mark that Dave raped him."

Everyone stopped in their tracks and turned to stare at the Shaman of Sexy. "You want to do WHAT with me?" Jeff asked.

Morrison just put up his hands defensively. "It'll make Mark kill Dave! The Deadman so totally loves you, he just won't admit it because he's stubborn like that."

"We're not pretending that Jeff was raped," Matt said vehemently. That was something he didn't even want to pretend, even though it would surely lead to Dave's destruction. "I don't ever want to hear that suggestion come out of anyone's mouth ever again." The thought of that actually happening scared Matt out of his mind, so pretending like that had happened was not something he wanted to do.

"Okay, okay," Morrison said. "It was just a suggestion. There's no reason to take my head off for it."

"Guys can we please hurry up and go?" Adam asked. "I don't want to stay here anymore. It feels like Dave's watching me."

"Okay, okay, we're going," Matt told him. He kissed him on the cheek. "We're going to get you somewhere safe." _And then I'm going to kill the fuck out of Dave for doing this to you._


	9. Chapter 9

Adam felt like he was in a fog for the next couple of days. It was hard to believe that pretty much everything he owned had been completely destroyed. And for what exactly? What was the point of Dave doing that to him? Was it all just to hurt him? _Yes,_ his mind answered. _He's trying to break you. He's not going to let you go without a fight. Hell, he might never let you go._

He groaned and put his hand over his eyes. The bad news was that while the fire at his house was definitely an arson case, the cops were having a hard time finding clues that would lead to them arresting Dave. Nobody had seen him in the area, there was no fingerprints in the remains of the house, there were no footprints, and there was no Dave to even question. The bastard had disappeared and Adam didn't know what to do. He knew that Dave had burned his house down, and he knew it was only a matter of time before the deranged man came after him directly. The thought of it scared him out of his mind, but he couldn't make it go away. It consumed him and made it hard for him to even breathe.

"Matt?" he called out. He got off the bed and went downstairs. Jeff had been over earlier, but now he had gone home to play video games with Jay. Jay had decided to come to North Carolina to stay too until this whole thing blew over. Safety was in numbers after all. "Matt?"

"Damn it!" Matt yelled. It sounded like he was in the kitchen. "Stupid fucking oven mitt! You didn't help at all!"

Adam went into the kitchen and found Matt turning on the sink to run his hand under some cold water. A pizza pan with a slightly burned pizza on it was on the stove and an oven mitt was on the ground. "What happened?" he asked.

"Jeff fucking took my good oven mitt and left that piece of shit one on the floor," Matt said. He hissed as he continued to run cold water over his hand. "And I just burned the shit out of my hand trying to get the food out."

Adam winced and walked over to where Matt was standing. "Do you need some burn ointment?"

Matt shook his head. "No, I'll be fine." He shut off the water and shook his hand a little bit. "It's already stopped hurting."

"Oh. Okay then." Adam picked up the bad oven mitt and threw it away.

"You okay?" Matt asked.

Adam shrugged. "I guess so."

"You scared about going back to work?"

"I can't go back Matt," Adam said desperately. "He's going to be there and he's going to hurt me."

Matt shook his head. "No he's not. We're not going to let him near you if we can help it. All of us are going to Vince as soon as we get to the arena and we're going to demand that he get rid of Dave."

"But what if he doesn't? Dave's one of Vince's biggest stars."

"Oh he'll get rid of him, because if he doesn't, we're all leaving."

Adam stared at Matt in shock. "You're going to do what?"

"We're all walking out if he doesn't fire Dave. Jeff, Jay, Mark, Legacy, Morrison, Phil, Glenn, Evan, John, Shawn and I will willingly walk away and take you with us if the bastard doesn't go. Dave's not worth losing all of us."

Adam was stunned by Matt's bluntness. He actually was completely speechless. He leaned against the counter and just stared at his protector. "You're completely serious about this," he stated.

Matt nodded. "I really am."

Neither one of them were aware that they were moving towards each other. All Adam knew was that he was suddenly kissing Matt and Matt was kissing him back. He wrapped his arms around Matt's neck and let himself be carried upstairs to the bedroom. _Dave's going to kill you if he finds out you're doing this_, a voice in the back of his head told him. _He hits you just for looking at guys. What is he going to do if he finds you fucked someone else?_

Matt set Adam down on the bed. "We don't have to do this you know," he said gently.

Adam shook his head. "Yes we do. I need to know that he doesn't own me anymore."

"Okay," Matt said with a nod. He kissed Adam gently, letting the blonde feel more at ease before they started to get undressed.

Adam moaned as Matt kissed and sucked on his neck. It had been too long since anyone had been remotely gentle with him. His breathing began to quicken as Matt kissed his way down his body. "Matty…"

"Ssshhh," Matt said gently. "I'm going to take good care of you."

Adam gasped as Matt took his cock into his mouth. "Oh shit," he groaned. He put his fingers in Matt's dark hair and closed his eyes. Matt's mouth felt so damn good. "Matt…umph…fuck…"

Matt chuckled, which just made Adam writhe around even more. Adam knew he was close, but he wasn't ready to be finished yet. "Matt stop for a second," he managed to choke out.

Matt stopped and pulled his head. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Adam gulped. "Fuck me," he begged quietly. "Please Matt, I need you inside of me."

Matt grinned and went back to kissing Adam's lips. Adam kissed back eagerly, all thoughts of Dave banished from his mind for the time being. He felt safe here with Matt. Matt wasn't going to hurt him. "You have anything?" he asked when they broke apart to breathe.

"Yeah," Matt said. "Just give me a second." He got off the bed and went over to his dresser. It took a moment of rummaging, but he did manage to find a bottle of lube. "You know, the scary thing is, this was a birthday present from Jeff."

Adam raised his eyebrows. "Really? Was he trying to tell you that you weren't having enough sex?"

"I guess so," Matt said with a chuckled. He squeezed some of the lube out on to his fingers and then rubbed them together. "I don't think I'm going to tell him I used it yet though. He's never going to shut up if I do."

Adam's laugh was cut off by his gasp as Matt's fingers entered him. He started to whimper and moan as he was stretched. For the first time in a long time, he found himself enjoying stuff like this. "Matt please," he begged. "Hurry up."

Matt smirked. "A little eager, aren't we?"

"Stop teasing you jerk. You're mean when you tease."

"Fine. Let's not do anymore teasing." Matt put some lube on his dick and then captured Adam's lips with a kiss as he entered him. Adam groaned and Matt paused for a moment. "You okay?"

Adam nodded. "I'm fine. You can move."

So Matt started moving, although he was being careful to be gentle and slow. And honestly, Adam was fine with that. He was still trying to get used to the fact that he didn't have to just clothes his eyes and take whatever was being given to him and never once actually enjoying it. "Matt…oh fuck…."

Matt kissed him everywhere: his lips, his cheeks, his eyes, his neck, his collarbone. One of his hands reached down and began stroking Adam. "Come on baby," he whispered. "Cum with me."

Adam gasped as he came, and it didn't take long for Matt to do the same thing. He tried to catch his breath as Matt climbed off of him and then pulled him into his arms. For the first time in a long time, he felt completely at peace. He closed his eyes and rested his head on Matt's chest. He knew that later he was going to worry about what Dave was going to do if Vince actually fired him, but right now, he didn't care. Right now, he just wanted to lay in Matt's arm and feel as safe for as long as he possibly could.


	10. Chapter 10

Matt held Adam's hand tightly as they walked towards Vince's office. The others were already standing outside of it and waiting for them. "You ready to do this?" Matt asked quietly.

Adam shook his head. "No, but I have to do it. I can't constantly be afraid at work."

"No, you shouldn't have to be constantly afraid _anywhere_ you go. I'm hoping Vince will help turn Dave in down in Tampa so he can pay for what he did to your house."

"But they haven't found enough evidence to really point the finger at him specifically."

"I know, but I can dream, can't I?"

"Yes Matthew, you can dream a little dream," Ted said dramatically. "Dream like you've never dreamt before."

Randy sighed and looked at him. "Ted, we've talked about this. Just because we're gay doesn't mean you need to act THAT gay."

"Yeah," Morrison said. "I'm gay and even I don't do shit like that."

"You do run around in those fruity little coats though," Jay pointed out.

"MY COATS ARE NOT FRUITY!"

Vince's door opened and the boss himself poked his head out into the hallway. "Is there a problem out here?"

"Yes there is, but it's not about Morrison's coats," Mark said. He looked Vince straight in the eye. "We need to come in and talk about Batista."

Vince sighed. "Is this about Adam's house getting burned down?"

Matt raised his eyebrows. "Did the cops in Tampa call you?"

"Yes they did." Vince motioned for them to come in. "I have to say I was shocked by the accusations." He looked at Adam. "Why would he burn your house down?"

Adam gulped nervously and glanced at Matt. "I can't do this," he whispered.

Matt sighed and squeezed Adam's hand in a comforting matter. He knew this was going to be hard for the blonde man to say, but it had to be done. "Yes you can," he whispered back. "I'm right here. I'm not going to leave you for a second."

All eyes were on Adam now. Matt wished they would look away for a moment, but he didn't express that out loud. He was distracted by the determined look in Adam's eyes. "That's it baby," he said with a nod. He rubbed Adam's back gently. "I know this is hard, but you need to talk to Vince. He needs to know why Dave needs to be fired."

Adam nodded. "Okay." He took a deep breath and began talking. "Vince, were you aware that Dave and I were dating?"

"I think Hunter said something to me about that once," Vince said. "But I try to stay out of everyone's relationships unless it directly affects business."

"Well this has definitely affected business," Jeff muttered.

Vince frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Adam gulped. "Dave turned mean not long after I started dating him. He kept me isolated from everyone so nobody knew what was happening and he made me say the bruises were from my matches. It got so bad I wanted to just kill myself…" His voice trailed off and he looked down at his feet.

Matt decided that he should speak up. "Jeff and I overheard Dave beating him in the locker room a couple of weeks ago. The relationship is over now, but Dave isn't letting go. He burned down Adam's house, he was stalking Adam by phone until we changed his number and we don't think he's done yet. That's why we want him out. We want him fired immediately and we're working on getting a restraining order against him."

"Oh, and I should mention that we're all prepared to walk out right now and leave the company if you don't get rid of the asshole," John spoke up. "I think we should make that detail perfectly clear before you make the right decision."

Now it was Vince's turn to get stared at. Matt took several deep breaths, hoping that their boss would do the right thing. He thought that there was a good shot at that happening since they were all threatening to leave, but still, Vince had a tendency to be notoriously stubborn…

All of his fears were put to rest as Vince nodded. "Okay," he said. "I know that none of you would be threatening a walk out if this wasn't one hundred percent true. I will release Dave from his contract, have security lead him out and have him banned from all future WWE events. Does that sound fair to you?"

Everyone looked at Adam, who nodded. Matt sighed as they all got up and he gave Adam a gentle kiss. "You feel better?" he asked.

Adam nodded nervously. "A little bit."

"I sense a but coming."

Jeff giggled. "I didn't know butts could come."

Mark rolled his eyes as Legacy and Phil joined Jeff's giggling. "You are all so immature."

Adam and Matt ignored all of that. "What's wrong baby?" Matt asked. "You can tell me."

"Well that was the easy part," Adam said. He looked around. "The hard part is going to be getting Dave _out_ of the building."

XXXXXXXXXX

"LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARDS! YOU SONS OF FUCKING BITCHES, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

Adam cowered behind Matt. It was about a half hour after the meeting with Vince had gotten over, and just like he had suspected, Dave was not taking the news to his release and his lifetime ban very well. "Matty…"

"It's okay," Matt said gently. He and Jeff were doing their best to shield Adam from Dave's view. "He's not going to hurt you. We won't let him."

Mark and Glenn walked up to Dave, who was literally being dragged out by security. "You brought this on yourself Batista," Mark growled. "You couldn't just leave Adam alone. No, you had to burn his house down and you had to keep terrorizing him."

Dave shook his head. "You can't prove I did a damn thing."

"We don't need proof," Matt snapped. "We know it was you. We're not stupid."

"Oh yeah? How about I ask Adam what he thinks?"

"You leave him the fuck alone!"

Adam closed his eyes and buried his face in Matt's back. His whole body was starting to shake. This was the closest he had been to Dave ever since the last locker room fight, and he didn't like it. He felt like his legs were going to collapse from under him and he was going to faint right then and there.

"Come on Adam!" Dave yelled. He was doing a pretty good job of fighting security. "Come face me like a man! Don't fucking hide behind your Hardy bitch!"

"Leave me alone!" Adam yelled back. He stayed behind Matt, but he mustered up enough courage to at least look Dave in the eyes. "What the fuck else do you want from me? You fucking already broke me and burned down my house! What the hell else do you want from me?"

Dave didn't exactly say what else he could possibly want. He managed to free himself from security's grasp and he bulldozed his way through Mark and Glenn and started coming towards Adam. Adam let out a scream and jumped backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process. As Jeff barely caught him before he hit the ground, Matt decked Dave as hard as he possibly could, effectively grounding the larger man.

"Holy shit," Adam muttered as Mark, Glenn and the security guards grabbed the stunned Dave and dragged him away. He looked at Matt in shock. "How hard did you hit him?"

Matt shook his hand. "Hard enough to break my own damn knuckles," he said. He shook his hand off and sighed. "That felt good though."

"And it looked awesome," Jeff piped in. "I wish I would have done that."

"But then you would have bitched about hurting your hand for the rest of the night."

"No I wouldn't have!"

"Oh you know you would have."

Adam sighed and hugged Matt as the two brothers continued to argue. He was happy that Matt had given Dave a small dose of his own medicine, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Dave wasn't going to take this lying down. _I hope you know this isn't over Matty. This isn't going to be over by a long shot._


	11. Chapter 11

"What the fuck do you mean that you can't get me my job back?" Dave yelled angrily. He was seriously two seconds away from breaking his own phone. It had been a couple of days since he had been fired and he was still pissed as hell about that whole entire day.

Hunter sighed. "I meant exactly what I said. Vince isn't listening to me on this. Matt and his little friends threatened to walk out if you stayed and he can't lose all of them. It would hit the company terribly from a financial standpoint. Besides, he knows what you did to Adam and he's not happy with you. He's cooperating with the Tampa police and you're going to be lucky not to have your ass carted off to jail soon."

Dave growled and kicked a chair across the room. That fucking little bitch Adam had to go and open his stupid fucking mouth. It fucking figured. He should have trained Adam better than that, but no, he had gone easy on the stupid bitch. Well not anymore. He was going to get his hands on his ex, even if he had to go through the entire WWE to do it.

Hunter seemed to sense what he was thinking. "Dave come on, be reasonable for a minute."

"Reasonable? You want me to be reasonable? I lost my job because a bunch of stupid fucks don't know how to mind their own business. Adam was mine, and if I can't have him, nobody's going to have him."

"Dave--"

Dave hung up the phone and tossed it across the room. His first instinct was to just go after Matt and Adam, but he knew that it was too obvious. They would be expecting that, and they had probably already planned for that. No, he had to start with a different strategy before he went after Adam directly. He had to get someone that wasn't going to be as well protected as his ex. A light bulb went off in his head. He suddenly knew exactly who he needed to target first. Now he just had to find the little bastard…

XXXXXXXX

Matt woke up to the sound of Adam whimpering and crying. He was used to it by now, so he just went ahead and started his usual routine of rubbing the blonde's back and kissing his face gently. "Come on baby, wake up," he whispered. "You're only dreaming honey. You need to wake up."

Adam continued his whimpering for a minute before finally waking up. He took several deep breaths before burying his face in Matt's chest. "Matty…"

"Shush, you're okay," Matt said in his most comforting voice. "You're safe. He's not here."

"I know," Adam said softly. "I just want these damn nightmares to stop."

"They will eventually. You just need more time." Matt didn't know if that was actually going to be the case, but he had to say something comforting.

It took about five minutes for Adam to fully regain his composure. When he did, he sat up and threw the covers off of him. "What time is it?" he asked.

Matt glanced at the clock. "Ten thirty," he replied. He rolled out of bed reluctantly. "We should get dressed. Shannon's supposed to be coming over some time today."

"Okay," Adam said.

They got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. Matt was going to ask what Adam wanted for breakfast when Jeff and Jay came barging in without knocking. "You are so full of it Jeff!" Jay shouted angrily. "Why can't you admit that I'm right and you're wrong?"

"Because I'm the one that's right and you're the one that's wrong!" Jeff fired back. "And the sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be."

Matt was completely startled by this argument. Jay and Jeff usually got along really well. "Guys…"

"So I'm basically supposed to ignore all things of logic and just accept your weak little points?" Jay demanded to know.

Jeff looked offended. "My points are not weak! The people you're supporting in this are the weak ones."

"Just because they don't bash people in the head with clubs doesn't mean they're weak. They're smarter than your so called ass kickers."

"Smarter? Please, I could do what they do."

"No you can't!"

"Oh stop bullshitting me."

"I'm not bullshitting you. You just want things to be the way you want them to be."

"THIS IS NOT ABOUT WHAT I WANT!"

"Guys!" Adam finally yelled. "What the fuck are you fighting about?"

Jay and Jeff glared at each other before turning to Matt and Adam. "If cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win?" Jeff asked.

"Astronauts," Matt said at the same time Adam said "Cavemen."

Jay grinned. "The debate continues."

Matt frowned at Adam. "How can you agree with Jeff?"

Adam shrugged. "Cavemen are more violent."

"Astronauts are smarter."

"Do astronauts carry around clubs to hit people with?"

"Well no, because they are civilized."

"Exactly. That is why they would lose."

Matt rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to argue this point. This was not something he wanted to get into at the moment.

There was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Jeff yelled as he ran out of the room. He was gone for a couple of minutes, and when he returned, he had Shannon with him.

"Hey guys," Shannon said. "I got told to come over but I didn't get told what we're doing."

Jay snorted. "That's the story of my life. I never know what the hell is going on."

"I want to go dirt biking," Jeff said. "We can get the dirt bikes and the four wheelers out and go ride around."

Adam looked at Matt nervously. "I don't know how to drive one of those things," he whispered.

Matt shook his head. "You can just ride with me dude. I won't let anything happen to you."

With Adam being reassured, the plan was set. They quickly ate a small breakfast so their stomachs wouldn't interrupt their fun and then went over to Jeff's house. Jeff got out two four wheelers (Adam and Matt got one and Jay got the other) while he and Shannon got the dirt bikes. "You are not doing any jumps with me on this thing," Adam informed Matt as they started heading to the track in Jeff's back yard.

Matt grinned. "Not even a little one?"

"Hardy…"

"I'm joking baby. You know I won't do anything you don't want me to do." Matt revved the engine a few times before speeding off, leaving Jay behind in a cloud of dust.

"Show off!" Jay yelled angrily. He wasn't having very much luck with his own four wheeler. "Jeff, help me with this thing!"

Matt grinned as Adam laughed at Jay's misfortune. It was the first time he had heard Adam laugh in a long time. "It's kind of mean to laugh at him you know."

Adam snorted. "It's just Jay. He can handle it."

Jeff eventually got Jay moving and soon the fun began in earnest. Matt didn't do much besides drive around the hills over and over again, but he did watch Jeff do a couple of amazing jumps. Jay on the other hand, was not quite as good. Over and over again, he kept busting his ass on the damn four wheeler. It was funny at first, but when Jay eventually went flying over the handle bars and nearly landed head first on the ground, Matt decided Jay just needed to ride with Shannon. And that worked--for about five minutes. Then Shannon crashed and it was unanimously decided that Jay was not allowed to do this activity anymore.

Adam giggled and rested his head against Matt's shoulder as they brought the bikes and four wheelers back in Jeff's garage. "Poor Jay, he's such a klutz."

Matt raised his eyebrows. "Could you say that with less sympathy?"

"Yes."

Matt laughed and got off the four wheeler. He helped Adam get off and gave him a kiss before they started heading back to his house. Jeff and Jay were now trying to get Shannon to take sides on the whole cavemen vs. astronauts debate and the Prince of Punk looked like he needed to be saved. But Matt was too busy with his Rated R Superstar to really care. _Besides, Shannon can take care of himself_, Matt rationalized. _He's a big boy._

When they got back to Matt's house, the answering machine light was blinking. Matt pressed the button to hear the message. What he heard brought his happiness to a screeching halt.

"Matt? I-I-It's Evan." Evan didn't sound good at all. "I'm in the hospital. Dave got me. And he told me….he said…" He stopped to gasp in pain. "He said he was coming for Adam…and that there's nothing you can do to stop him."


	12. Chapter 12

Adam felt his stomach churning violently the entire trip to St. Louis. Evan was laying in a hospital there and it was all because of him. Dave had attacked Evan to send him a message. This was only the beginning. Dave was just going to keep coming and coming until there was nobody standing between them. That fact scared Adam out of his mind. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want anyone to get hurt because of him, but he knew that he was dead if he went back to Dave. And that wasn't an exaggeration: Dave was going to kill him. He just knew it deep in his heart. It scared him out of his mind, and not even Matt could make the thought go away completely.

By the time they got to hospital, Randy, Ted and Cody were already there. "He's doing a little better," Randy said before they could even ask. "But he's not going to be able to wrestle for at least a month or two. Dave beat the shit out of him."

Adam looked down at his feet. The guilt he felt was nearly killing him. This was his fault. Evan had just come back from injury just a couple of months ago and now he was sidelined yet again.

Matt saw the look on Adam's face. "Don't start blaming yourself," he said immediately. "This isn't your fault. Dave is the only one to blame here."

"He's right Addy," Jeff said. "Dave put Evan in the hospital, not you."

Adam tried to take comfort in their words, but he couldn't manage to do it. It still felt like this was all his fault. "I just want to make this stop," he said. "But I don't know how."

Randy shook his head. "There's not a lot you more you can do Adam. Dave's just begging to get arrested at this point. The cops are looking for him now. It's only a matter of time before he gets arrested."

"But what if they don't catch him in time?" Adam asked. "What if someone else gets hurt?" _Fuck, what if he gets me or Matt? Or both of us?_

Everyone else just looked at each other. They didn't know what to say or do to make Adam feel better. Finally Ted just sighed and shook his head. "Jesus Adam, you're bringing me down man."

Cody smacked him on the back of the head. "Dumbass."

"What? What did I say?"

"The guy's been through hell and you're standing here talking about how he's bringing you down? That's just selfish dude."

"Well I didn't mean for it to sound like that! God Cody, you've acted like you haven't blurted anything out in a moment of uncomfortable silence. Fuck, when we heard Jeff sleep talking about what he wanted Mark to do to him and then he woke up and asked us why we were staring at him, you told him that you liked cheese."

As the bickering continued between those two, Randy came over to Adam and put his arm around him. "Evan wants to see you," he whispered. "He's been waiting for you to get here."

"I'll go in with you," Matt said before Adam could even think of something to say to Randy. He started leading the blonde man towards Evan's hospital room. "We can leave the children out here to argue."

"Hold on, you're not leaving me out here with these idiots," Randy said. "I'm coming with you two."

Adam tried to control his breathing as they went in to see Evan. But despite his best efforts, he still felt dizzy and light headed, especially when he saw the state of the young high flyer. Evan's face was one giant bruise, his wrist and hand were in a cast and his ankle was wrapped tightly with bandages and propped up under a couple of pillows. From the look in his eye (one was swelled completely shut, so he could only open one) he looked like was doped up on pain medication. "Shit," Adam said under his breath.

Evan reached out with his good hand. "Adam," he said, trying to sound stronger than he probably felt. "Come here for a minute."

Adam looked back at Matt and Randy, who nodded. Taking a deep breath, he approached Evan slowly. "Jesus Evan, I'm so fucking sorry," he managed to choke out.

Evan shook his head as he grabbed Adam's hand. "It's not your fault. You didn't attack me. Dave did this to me."

"Because of me," Adam insisted. "If I hadn't--"

"Adam stop it," Evan ordered. "I don't want to listen to you blame yourself. You don't deserve the blame. Dave is the only one to blame here. Do you understand me?"

"Damn, when did Evan get bossy?" Randy whispered to Matt. "Did you know he was like that?"

Matt grinned. "I used to date him; of course I know about his bossy side. He keeps it well hidden, but it's there."

Evan managed to grin. "You see? Matt knows better than to argue with me."

Adam almost grinned. A little bit of his guilt was going away, but a lot of it was still there. He doubted it was going to go away any time soon, no matter how badly he wanted it to. "You're too forgiving for your own good," he informed Evan.

Evan rolled his eyes. "And you blame yourself for things that are out of your control. You can't make Dave stop this."

"I can though," Adam said. He was talking quietly in hopes that Matt wouldn't hear him. "I could if I weren't so selfish. I could go back to him and give him what he wants. I could sacrifice myself to make him leave everyone alone."

"Adam!" Matt exclaimed. "That is not even an option!"

"Yeah really," Randy agreed. "We're not letting you put yourself in harm's way just because you feel unneeded guilt."

Adam folded his arms over his chest. They just didn't get it. He knew that he could make it stop. His friends didn't deserve to have to constantly watch their backs because of his psycho ex-boyfriend. They had done so much for him already, and he didn't want them to get hurt. But he also didn't want to get hurt either, and he felt selfish for thinking that way.

Matt knelt down beside Adam and made him look at him. "Promise me that you're not going to do anything stupid," he said quietly. "Don't even begin to think about offering yourself up to Dave. I couldn't stand it if he did anything to you."

Adam nodded slowly. "Okay," he said quietly. "But you can't go after him either."

"I'll try not to."

"Matt!"

"What? One of us needs to be the protector here."

"No, you need to be the hero," Randy said. "Because then I can sing this: I can be your hero baby! I can--"

Evan tossed the television remote at the Legend Killer. "Stop that this instant!" he whined. "I hated that song to begin with, and you're not making me like it any better."

The others all came in the room at that moment. "We have a problem," Jay announced.

Adam's heart skipped a beat. His thoughts immediately turned to Dave.

"Ted and Shannon agree with Jeff and Cody and the nurse outside agree with me," Jay went on. "Evan, we need your help: cavemen or astronauts."

All eyes turned to Evan, who just sighed. "That's it, I'm not letting you guys borrow my _Angel _DVDs anymore."

Jeff's eyes widened. "Why not? I like them!"

Adam rolled his eyes. "Your brother is so childish," he said to Matt.

"Don't I know it," Matt said with a shake of his head. He kissed Adam on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"EW, you two are gross," Jeff complained. "And I am not childish! I am a grown--holy crap! I almost forgot to go to the vending machine and get Skittles!"

Jay smirked as Jeff ran out of the room. "Wow, it's like having a kid with ADHD or something like that. I love it."

XXXXXXXXX

Dave drove around in his car with his sunglasses on and a hat on his head. He was trying to be as incognito as possible. He knew that if he wasn't careful, the cops would toss him in jail before he could finish his little plan. He had come up with a beautiful one while he had been kicking the shit out of little Evan Bourne. It was simple enough in theory. It just had three simple steps. Step one: kidnap Jeff Hardy. Step two: lure Matt into trying to save his brother and get him too. And step three: use Matt as bait to get Adam right where he wanted him. It was all simple enough. The hardest part would just be getting Jeff; the little bitch was probably going to be well protected. But once he had the shit head, getting Matt and Adam would be a piece of cake. Matt would try to play the hero and Adam would too, because he knew what Dave was capable of.

"The countdown is on Adam," he muttered to himself. "It's only a matter of time before I have you where I want you. And believe me, you are going to regret ever crossing me."


	13. Chapter 13

The next day, Matt asked Vince if he and Adam could take a few extra days off. He wanted to spend some alone time with Adam and give his boyfriend some extra time to cope with everything that was happening. Vince agreed to it, and gave them the rest of the week off. "You didn't have to do this you know," Adam said as they entered Matt's house.

"I wanted to though," Matt replied. He picked up Lucas and directed the little dog towards Adam. "Come on Lucas, give Adam lots of kisses. Give him lots and lots of kisses."

Adam wrinkled up his face as Lucas did just that. "His breath doesn't smell very good Matt," he complained. "He needs a breath mint or something."

Matt turned Lucas back around and let himself be licked a few times. "Oh shit, you're right," he said as he put the dog back down. "What the hell have you been eating Lucas?"

Lucas just wagged his tail and barked at them twice.

Matt grinned and followed Adam into the living room. "Well since we have so much free time on our hands, what do you want to do?"

Adam shrugged. "I don't know. You want to watch a movie."

Hell, that didn't sound like such a bad idea. "Pick one out that you haven't seen. I'll go make some popcorn." Matt went into the kitchen and started to do that when he was confronted by a sight of a dead mouse. Lucas quickly came running in and picked it up, wagging his tail as he ran away yet again. "Oh that is disgusting!" Matt yelled. He quickly abandoned the popcorn making idea and washed his face off with soap and water.

Adam came into the kitchen. "What's wrong?"

"Lucas has been eating a dead mouse."

"Wait…that means he….damn it!" Adam ran out of the room. He could be heard bounding up the stairs and a few seconds later, Matt could hear the bathroom sink going. All in all, it was not the homecoming either of them expected to get.

It took Matt about ten minutes to chase Lucas down and get the mouse away from him. "Damn dog," he muttered as he threw the mouse away. "Sometimes I think you believe you're a cat or something." Once the mouse was disposed of, he went upstairs to see what Adam was doing. "You okay baby?" he asked as he entered the bathroom.

Adam was still scrubbing away at his face. "We're going to have to buy more soap," he said. "I'm going to have to scrub my face for a week!"

Matt chuckled and turned off the water. "I think you're okay sweetheart," he said as he pulled Adam away from the sink. "I don't think you've been permanently damaged by the dead mouse breath."

"That's what you think," Adam muttered. He was trying to go back to washing his face. "I can still smell the death under my nose."

"Oh poor baby," Matt said with a grin. He kissed Adam gently. "Do you need some help forgetting all about that?"

Adam grinned back. "I think I'm going to need a lot of help to forget about the trauma I just went through. Are you sure you're up to the task?"

That sounded like a challenge to Matt. It was one that he was more than happy to accept. He picked Adam up and started carrying him towards the bedroom. "Oh I'm very up to the task," he said.

Adam wrapped his legs around Matt's waist and smirked. "I can tell," he said seductively as he nipped at Matt's lower lip.

Feeling more aroused by the second, Matt kissed Adam as hard as he could while he opened the door to his bedroom and got them on the bed. He slipped his tongue into the warm, wet cavern that was Adam's mouth, enjoying the way the Rated R Superstar was moaning underneath him. _Damn it, where did that lube go?_ he asked himself as he felt around my desk, trying to find the thing in question.

Suddenly Adam rolled them over so he was on top. First he removed his shirt and then he helped Matt get his off. Matt grinned as his boyfriend began kissing his way down his body. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting a little taste of my Hardy boy," Adam replied. He yanked off Matt's belt and jeans quickly. "Damn it Matt, who told you to wear underwear?" he asked as he took off the boxers too.

"I did," Matt replied. "Do you have--oh shit…" He closed his eyes as Adam's mouth engulfed his dick. He ran his fingers through his lover's blonde hair, fighting the urge to start thrusting upwards. He didn't want to hurt Adam or scare him by being too aggressive. "Baby that feels so good," he gasped. "Adam…"

Adam didn't let up until Matt came in his mouth, and then he swallowed it greedily. He kissed his way back up Matt's body, saving his mouth for last. "Love you Matt," he whispered.

"Love you too," Matt replied. He flipped them over so he was on top once again. This time he looked inside the drawer of the table that was by the bed and he managed to find the lube. He quickly put some on his fingers and began prepping Adam as quickly as he could. He intentionally pressed up against Adam's prostate a couple of times, making the Canadian squirm helplessly.

"You are such tease," Adam complained. He was thrusting up against Matt's fingers, mewling in frustration.

Matt smirked and removed his fingers quickly. "You think I'm a tease? Would a tease do this?" He slid into Adam quickly, hitting his prostate in the process.

"Shit!" Adam yelled, his eyes nearly rolling in the back of his head from the pleasure. "Matt please move! You can't stay still now!"

It was hard not to laugh at Adam's desperation. He was just that damn cute about it. But Matt managed to resist the urge by kissing Adam and moving inside of him. It wasn't as slow and gentle as their first time together, but from the way Adam was moving his hips frantically, it didn't need to be. Matt could feel that he was close yet again, but he held out as best as he could. He wanted Adam to come first. He began sucking on the sensitive flesh of Adam's collar bone while one of his hands began pumping Adam's cock.

Adam began panting wildly. "Matt…oh God…gonna cum…" He came hard, screaming incoherently and nearly making Matt go death in the process. Matt himself came at the same time; the way Adam's walls tightened around him had been too much to take. He collapsed and rested his head on Adam's chest, content to stay there forever.

"I have to say, that was much better than a movie," Adam said as he tried to catch his breath.

Matt nodded. "I agree." He rolled off of Adam and settled down beside him. "You know, Jeff offered us to let us borrow his Karma Sutra book. I'm not sure whether to take him up on it or smack him and tell him to stay out of our sex life."

Adam thought about it for a minute. "Take the book," he finally decided. "I don't even know what Karma Sutra is, but I want to find out."

Matt grinned. "Okay, I'll call Jeff later and tell him we want it. Right now, I'm fine with taking a nice little nap."

Adam snorted. "Until you get horny again that is."

"Damn straight. The best part of waking up is having sex. You should know this by now."

"Yeah I should," Adam said with a grin. "I definitely should."

XXXXXXX

"I need Skittles, I need Skittles, I need Skittles hey hey hey hey!" Jeff sang as he headed out to his car. He had left his wallet there and he couldn't buy Skittles without money. Now if he could have things his way, he would just break open the vending machine and get ALL the Skittles, but people got mad about that the last time he did that. He didn't like it when people were mad at him, so he decided to not do that. Not unless there was no other option of course.

He was unlocking his car door when somebody hit him on the back of the head really hard. He didn't even get a chance to yell in pain though. A rag was put over his mouth and he immediately started to panic. It was filled with chloroform. _Oh shit, not good, not good…_

"Your brother has something of mine Jeffey," a cold voice whispered in his ear. "So I figured that it was only fair I take something of his."

_Oh shit it's Dave. Dave has me! Oh fuck, why the fuck didn't I just bug someone for money?_ Jeff tried to fight his way free, but the chloroform was already taking effect. He was starting to pass out and there was nothing he could do to stop it. _Help me…oh God, somebody help me…_


	14. Chapter 14

Mark was worried out of his mind. Jeff was missing and nobody could find him. The last time anyone had seen him, they had said he had been muttering about getting Skittles. But now it was an hour later, and Mark knew something was very wrong. Jeff wouldn't just disappear without telling anyone where he was going. Not with the whole Dave situation that was going on right now. Something had to have happened to him.

_Damn it Jeff, why did you go off alone? Why didn't you have someone go with you?_ These two questions kept repeating themselves over and over again in his head as he went out to the parking lot to look around. Jay had already checked out there, but he wanted to look for himself. He wasn't going to be satisfied until he tore every square inch of the arena and everything around it apart. He had to find Jeff. He just had to.

His cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket. His heart literally started beating as fast as it possibly could. "Jeff?" he said as soon as he managed to answer it.

"Mark!" Jeff cried. And that was no exaggeration; he really was bawling his eyes out. "Mark help me! Dave has me and he's going to hurt me!"

Mark felt his whole body go cold. This was so beyond bad that it wasn't even funny. "Where are you?" he asked immediately. "Where is he keeping you?"

"I don't know. I just woke up in some house I hadn't seen before." There was the sound of a door being pounded on and Jeff whimpered. "He's going to get in. Oh god oh god oh god…"

Mark started digging into his other pocket for his car keys. He had no idea where to possibly search for Jeff, but he figured Dave couldn't be that far away. Jeff had only been missing for an hour. "Jeff listen to me carefully," he said as calmly as he could. "You need to call 911 so they can try to locate you, okay? They can trace your call and that'll help everyone find you. Can you do that for me?"

"I--" A door banged open on Jeff's side, interrupting his answer. Jeff screamed and there was the sound of a struggle. Mark froze in his tracks, his voice literally gone from him. He could hear the sound of someone getting hit and from the pained filled whimpers, it was Jeff who was getting the wrong end of the fist. "Dave stop it!" he finally yelled. His voice didn't even sound like his own. "I swear to God if you lay another hand on him I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Dave just laughed. "You're going to have to find me first."

Mark started to growl out a response to that promising more pain and suffering if Jeff was harmed anymore, but Dave hung up on him before he could get any of the words out. That just made Mark even angrier. _I'm going to fucking murder him when I find him. I swear to God, if he hurts Jeff anymore than he has, he's going to die a horrible and painful death…_

XXXXXXXXXXX

Adam had been making himself a sandwich when Matt got the call from Glenn saying that Dave had kidnapped Jeff. His heart sank down to his stomach when he had heard the news. This was not good at all. He knew Dave was trying to get to him and Matt by using Jeff, and he knew that Dave was going to hurt Jeff before anyone got to him. It wasn't going to matter how quickly Mark, the police, Matt or even he got to Jeff; Jeff was going to be seriously hurt by the time they got to him. Hell, he probably already was.

"God, this cannot be happening," Matt said in disbelief. He had been dialing Dave's number over and over again for the past several minutes. Adam had given it to him in hopes that they could talk some kind of sense into Dave, but Dave wasn't answering. Now what Adam didn't tell Matt was that that probably meant Dave was busy torturing Jeff. Matt was in no shape to be hearing that at the moment.

Adam gently wrapped his arms around Matt and rested his face against the back of the brunette's neck. "I know baby," he said quietly. "I know. We're going to get him back though. You heard what Glenn said. Mark's on a rampage. Dave's dead when he gets his hands on him."

"But will Jeff be in one piece by the time anyone gets there?" Matt asked desperately. "What's that fucking bastard going to do to my baby brother?"

Adam didn't answer him. He couldn't even begin to describe what happened when Dave got into one of the rages he had to be in at the moment. _Oh God Matt, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I got Jeff dragged into this. I'm sorry for everything Dave's going to do to him…oh baby I wish I could warn you but it'll kill you to know. It'll absolutely kill you._

XXXXXXXXXXX

Every part of Jeff's body hurt. Dave had hit him over and over again until he lost conscious, and now he was on a bed with his hands handcuffed behind his back. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was currently naked at the moment. He almost wished he was still being beaten; the whole nudity thing told him exactly what Dave wanted to do to him. _Oh God, I can't let him touch me,_ he thought as he tried to force himself to sit up. His ribs were broken, so it was a difficult process.

Dave came out of nowhere and pushed him back down roughly. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked as he climbed on top of Jeff. "Who said you could leave?"

Jeff whimpered and tried to get out from underneath the Animal. "Please," he begged. "Don't hurt me please…"

Dave just smirked at him. He looked so evil that it actually scared Jeff. "Sorry Jeffey, you're not going anywhere. You're staying right here with me until Matt and Adam come to save you. And until then, we're going to have some fun of our own."

Jeff tried to keep fighting Dave off; he really did. But without his hands, he was basically a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. All he could do was scream as Dave shoved his dick inside him as hard as he possibly could. The pain was the worst thing he had ever felt in his life. It felt like he was being split in two. His insides were ripping and bleeding, and Dave was laughing about it. The bastard was enjoying himself. _Oh God…Matty…Mark…somebody help me…please somebody find me and make him stop doing this to me…oh God the pain…I can't take it, he's killing me…_


	15. Chapter 15

Matt had never felt so damn helpless in his life. Dave had Jeff, and nobody knew where the Animal had taken him. Mark had said Jeff had told him he was in a house, but that seemed to have changed because the police had been keeping in touch with Matt, and they said that several witnesses had spotted Dave driving a car and moving west. Even with people spotting the Animal though, Matt didn't feel any better about all of this. Jeff was still gone, and until Dave was actually physically caught, Jeff was going to suffer under his wrath.

Matt looked over at Adam, who was chewing on his lower lip. He hadn't said much since they had found out Jeff had been taken. There was absolutely no doubt in Matt's mind that he was blaming himself for all of this. Matt wanted to tell him that it wasn't his fault, but he doubted it would do any good. Adam was probably bound and determined to take the blame no matter what anyone said.

"I can't just keep sitting here," Matt finally said. His voice was so low and shaky that he barely even recognized it. "I have to do something. I have to go find Jeff."

Adam looked over at him. "But where are you going to look though? Nobody knows where he is or where Dave's taking him."

"Well I can't just sit here!" Matt was beyond frustrated at this point. "You know what Dave's like! You know what he can do! Jeff…oh Jesus, poor Jeff…" He laid his head down on the table. Tears were trying to come out of his eyes but he tried to fight them off. He didn't want to cry right now. Crying wasn't going to solve anything. _I need to be strong so I can find Jeff. I can't let myself be weak or I'll never get him back._

The phone rang at that moment. Adam pressed the button to put it on speaker phone. "Hello?"

"Oh there you are Addy. I'm a little surprised; I thought it would be dear old Matt picking up the phone."

Matt sat straight back up. It was Dave on the phone. "You son of a bitch!" he yelled. "Where's Jeff? What have you done to my brother you asshole?"

Dave laughed. "I've done quite a bit with him. He's been such a pretty outlet for my rage. And the way he screams…oh Matt, you wouldn't believe it."

Adam leaned forward in his seat. "I swear to God Dave, if you've--"

"Oh save it Adam. You don't scare me. You couldn't ever scare me after the way I've made you scream." He chuckled. "You and Jeff sound a lot alike, but he's much tighter than you Adam, you filthy cockslut."

Matt's vision literally went red as the meaning of Dave's words sunk in. "You fucking bastard!" he snarled. He got off his chair and tossed it across the room because he was so angry. "I'm going to fucking kill you, do you hear me? You are going to fucking die!"

"Well I would like to see you try Matt," Dave replied. He didn't sound the least bit worried about the threat being made against him. "You know, if you want Jeff back so badly, you and Adam need to come to Las Vegas and get him back. Don't call the cops or I'll kill him before I'm taken down. I just want the two of you all alone, and we'll see who the last man standing is. We got a deal?"

"Yes," Adam said before Matt could. "Where are you?"

"5700 Queens Blvd. The owners of this nice lovely house are on vacation, so we won't be interrupted." Dave's tone suddenly changed. "And I was fucking serious about the cop thing. They show up, Jeff dies." With that, he hung up the phone.

Matt and Adam exchanged looks. "You don't have to go you know," Matt said quietly. "You shouldn't even risk it. Dave's just doing this to get to you."

"Well he's succeeding," Adam muttered. "I'm not letting you go alone. I love you too damn much to walk into this by yourself." He stood up. "I know he said don't call the cops, and I know he will kill Jeff if we do. Hell, he'll try to get us while he's at it before he gets arrested."

Matt nodded. He knew Dave would do it too. The man was out of control. "Maybe we can have someone else call the cops after we get there," he said. "But first we need to get plane tickets. We have to get there before we do anything else."

"Actually, we should call Mark and tell him where Dave is," Adam suggested. "If we're facing off with Dave, I want him to do most of the facing while we grab Jeff and run for the hills."

"Then call him and tell him where to go," Matt ordered. "I'll get our own tickets." He grabbed his cell phone and began dialing the airport's phone number. _Jeff hang on,_ he prayed to himself. _We're going to get you back and Dave's going to die for fucking touching you._

XXXXXXXXX

"5700 Queens Blvd? Are you sure that's the address he said?"

Adam sighed impatiently. He had called Mark and told him what Dave had said during the phone call. The Deadman had gone into an absolute rage when he found out Dave had raped Jeff, but as soon as the address had been said, he calmed straight down. Adam had no idea why and he wanted to find out. "Yes, I'm sure. I heard him plain as day. Why are you making a big deal out of that? You almost sound happy now. If I didn't know better, I would say you were bipolar or something."

Mark snorted. "Let's just say I know the people who live in that house and I know for a fact they are probably not on vacation."

"Okay…you're freaking me out here Marky, I'm not going to lie."

"First of all, don't call me Marky. Second of all, don't even think about calling the cops when you get to Vegas. I want Dave all to myself." Mark was sounding positively deranged at this point.

"Mark--" Adam sighed as he was hung up on. "Fucking hell. What the hell is he planning?"

XXXXXXXXX

After Mark hung up on Adam, he dialed an old familiar number. He hadn't touched it in six months, mainly because the man it belonged to wasn't speaking to him anymore. Mark's love for Jeff had damaged the relationship almost beyond repair. But for Jeff, Mark was willing to do absolutely anything, even if it meant going back to a past he hadn't wanted anyone to see.

For a moment, it didn't seem like anyone was going to answer. But then on the fourth ring, the man in question picked up his phone. "Mark? Why the hell are you calling me?"

Mark sighed. He was hoping this didn't backfire on him later. "I need your help…James."

**XXXXXXXX**

**Me: Damn it Lawson, I told you to stop hijacking my stories! This is ridiculous!**

**James: I can't help it! It's fun. Besides, I'm only invading the next chapter of this story. I have to get in on the killing of Dave Batista. Mark's not going to kill anyone without me. It's just not right.**

**Me: Well as long as you know that--**

**James: Yes, this is still about Matt and Adam. And the next story will be about Mark and Jeff...although where Mark is, I usually tend to show up too, even if it is just to annoy him.**

**Me: Well thank you James for spoiling the sequel for everyone else.**

**James: It's not like it's a surprise! You've been hinting at the whole Mark/Jeff thing for awhile now. Jesus woman, people aren't stupid…well most aren't. Now quit talking to me and post this damn thing. The sooner you do that, the sooner we get to the fun of Mark destroying Batista and then I'll get to help because I'm psycho! Now where did my knife go...**

**Me (sighing as I watch James trying to find his favorite knife): I think I created a monster…wait, I don't think that. I KNOW it. Oh well, most people like him…I know I do…I'm not sure what that says about me though…oh well, I'm not fighting him on this. His muse is too damn persistent.**


	16. Chapter 16

Jeff curled up in as small of a ball as he could manage. His body was completely racked with pain. He had been raped two more times by Dave, and he felt dirty and disgusting. He just wanted this all to stop. The fear, the pain--it was all too much to take. He didn't understand how Adam had put up with it for so long. He had been held captive by Dave for what was really only several hours, but it felt like a life time to him. _Matty…Mark…where are you guys? I need both of you so bad._

Dave knelt down beside Jeff. The Animal looked like he was enjoying every second of Jeff's agony. "Come on Jeffey, don't tell me you're tiring out on me already. We're just getting started on our fun."

Jeff whimpered as he was picked up and tossed on the couch roughly. His hands weren't bound now, but that was only because he was too weak to put up any real fight against Dave. "Please," he begged. "Don't hurt me again."

"Why not?" Dave asked. "You're so fun to play with. I'm almost thinking of just forgetting Adam and just keeping you instead. You're such a pretty little bitch."

"Well I'm not going to disagree with you on that one. He is a pretty little thing. But you're not keeping him Batista. In fact, for where you're going, you can't really take anything with you."

Dave and Jeff looked up to see that a very tall and muscular man was now standing in the living room with them. He had to be at least the size of Mark, only he had less tattoos. His black hair was spiked straight up, and it matched his eyes perfectly. He was wearing a gold necklace with a small vial of what appeared to be blood attached to it. "Oh, and before you ask--because I know you will-- I'm James Lawson, an old friend of Mark's. And I hate to tell you this, but you're in MY house."

Dave stood up, looking more and more pissed off by the second. "You--"

"Did you talk to that little old blind lady across the street?" James asked in amusement. "Is that why you didn't think anyone would be here? Because my boy Connor tells her all sorts of things all the time. When he says we're going on vacation, it's usually just happening in his own head. He's kind of nuts like that." He took a toothpick out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth.

"Well then, I guess Jeff and I will be on our way then," Dave said slowly. There was something about the vibe James was giving off that made him take a step back.

Jeff, who was just as weirded out James's mere presence, shook his head violently. He didn't want to go anywhere else with Dave. "Help me," he said to James desperately. "Please help me."

James grinned. "Wow, he's even prettier when he begs." Suddenly the grin disappeared as he glared at Dave. "You aren't going anywhere Davey Boy. You broke into my home without my permission, and nobody gets away with that. And not to mention the fact that my Mark cares very deeply for little Jeffey here, and he pleaded with me to keep him safe from you until he got here."

Jeff gulped. From the sound of James's voice, it seemed like the only thing saving him at the moment was indeed Mark. "Your Mark?"

James smirked. "Yes, he's my Marky. He'll be my Marky till the end of time, no matter how much he loves you." He started advancing towards Dave, who was obviously fighting the urge to back up. "How much do you truly know about the dear old Undertaker? Do you know the monster that's buried inside the man? Because I do. I know it very well. And that's what's going to be coming for your head Dave. Adam told him what you did to Jeff, and let me tell you, he is very, very unhappy. And when Marky's unhappy, I'M unhappy too."

Jeff watched as Dave straightened up completely. Either he didn't realize that James wasn't kidding around or he just didn't care. The man was going to be defiant till the end. "Well what are you going to do about it?" he asked as he shoved James as hard as he could.

James just grinned. "I'm glad you asked that question." The grin turned into a sneer as he head butted Dave so hard that it sent the Animal to the ground. Jeff watched as James continued the assault with kicks and punches, grateful that he was being saved, but frightened by the man who Mark had entrusted with his life.

The sound of the front door opening made both James and Jeff freeze. They heard footsteps approaching and then in came Mark. He immediately went to Jeff and hugged him tightly. "Are you alright?" he whispered so James couldn't hear him. "Fuck Jeff, I'm so fucking sorry."

Jeff closed his eyes and buried his face in Mark's shoulder. "It hurts," he complained softly. "He hurt me really bad."

James snorted. "Well don't worry Hardy, he's going to get everything he deserves."

Jeff opened his eyes as Mark turned to look down at Dave. He saw something in Mark's eyes that he had never seen before. It honestly looked like he wanted to truly kill Dave for everything he had done. "Mark…"

"Take him downstairs," Mark told James, indicating to Dave, who was trying to get back up to his feet. "I'm going to take care of Jeff and call Matt."

Jeff couldn't do anything but let himself be picked up by Mark and be carried upstairs. "Mark, what are you going to do to Dave?" he asked quietly.

Mark sighed. "Jeff, it's better that you don't know. Just trust me on this one."

XXXXXXXX

Matt nearly jumped out of his seat as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He moved his ass up enough to get the device out of his pocket. "Fucking thing doesn't want to come out," he muttered.

Adam looked over at him. "I told you to put it in your jacket pocket, not your jean pocket."

"That's not helping at the moment sweetie," Matt said as he finally got the phone out. "Hello?" he said to the person on the other line.

"It's me," Mark said. "I've got Jeff."

Relief washed over Matt so fast that if he hadn't already been sitting down, he would have had to sit down because his legs would have given out. "Oh thank God," he said. "Is he alright?"

"He just passed out as I was putting some new clothes on him. When you get to this house, he'll be upstairs in the first room to the right. Just take him straight to the hospital and don't wait for me. I'll meet you guys there soon enough."

"Wait, what are you going to be doing?" Matt asked. He was not liking the way Mark was talking. Something inside the Deadman seemed to have snapped.

"I'm finishing this once and for all," Mark growled.

Matt frowned as he was hung up on. "Okay, I am now officially scared of Mark," he muttered as he hung up his own phone.

Adam looked at Matt anxiously. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Well Jeff's safe," Matt told him. "Mark's got him and from the sounds of it, Dave is going to pay dearly for everything he has done."

Adam had an unreadable expression on his face before nodding. "Good. Bastard deserves everything he's going to get."

XXXXXX

Mark entered the basement to find that Dave was chained up and hanging upside down from one of the ceiling rafters. His mouth was heavily duct taped so nobody could hear him scream. "He looks like steroid up piñata," Mark commented as he went to stand by James.

James grinned. The psycho had an even more deranged look in his eyes than normal. "I know he does. And every piñata needs to be busted open." He handed Mark a baseball bat that had nails sticking out of it. "I kept your favorite toy down here just for you."

Mark took the bat and studied James closely. He had known James almost his whole life, and he knew that his partner in crime was insanely jealous of Jeff. "Thank you," he said quietly.

James frowned. "For what?"

"For not harming Jeff."

"Yeah, well, you know you're one of the only people I ever really come through for," James said with a roll of his eyes. "But don't you ever ask me to help save him again, because then you'll be pushing your luck. I don't get the best of my jealously very often."

"Don't I know it," Mark muttered. He grabbed Dave by the head and made the Animal look into his eyes. "Batista, James and I are the judge, the jury and the executioner. We have found you guilty for every disgusting thing you have done to Adam and Jeff."

"Not that I really care about those two," James commented. "I'm just pissed you got in my house."

Mark shook his head and kept going on like he hadn't heard James speak. "Some say it would poetic justice if Adam or Jeff killed you. But they don't need your blood on their hands." He grinned sadistically. "Now me on the other hand, I already have plenty of blood on my hands. Yours will wash off, just like everyone else's did."

James started to laugh insanely. "My killer Marky is back in action. Oh Davey Boy, do you realize what you woke up?"

No, Dave did not know what he had woken up inside of Mark. But he was about to find out big time.


	17. Chapter 17

The house that was on 5700 Queens Blvd. gave Adam the creeps. It was almost the size of a mansion, and it was all run down and it kind of looked haunted. "Are you sure Mark said Jeff was safe here now?" Adam asked as Matt opened the front door. "Because I have the feeling a whole bunch of ghosts are going to jump out at us as soon as we close the door behind us."

Matt bit his lip as he led Adam into the house. "But why would Mark lie? He cares about Jeff just as much as we do."

"Yeah, but this house is fucking creepy," Adam complained. He didn't want to whine like a bitch, but damn it, this place was giving him the creeps, and he didn't think that feeling was going to go away any time soon.

Matt didn't really reply to that. He just started heading towards the staircase. "Let's just get Jeff and get out of here," he said quietly. "Mark will take care of Dave and meet us at the hospital."

A loud crash from the kitchen made Adam jump a foot in the air. His mind immediately began to think it was Dave. Dave must have somehow escaped Mark's clutches and he was coming for them now. _Oh God, oh God, we're going to die, we're going to die…_

"Fucking hell!" a man who definitely wasn't Dave yelled. "Cock sucking bastard kids need to learn how to put the dishes away!"

Adam sighed in relief and leaned against Matt for support. His legs felt rubbery and he literally felt like he was about to fall down to the ground. "I thought it was Dave," he whispered.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, me too." He started trying to just go upstairs again when a door opened and out came the man who had done the yelling. His face had three streaks of blood going down it and he was holding a thing of bleach in his hands. He looked up at them in surprise for a second before frowning. "Who the fuck are you two?"

Adam immediately stepped behind Jeff. There was something about this guy that gave him the creeps.

"We're here for Jeff," Matt said slowly. "Mark said--"

"Oh, then you're Matt and Adam," the guy interrupted. "Okay, you had permission to walk in here unannounced. That's cool."

"Are you the dude that owns this house?" Adam asked hesitantly, remembering how Mark had said he knew the people who lived in this place.

The guy nodded. "The name's James Lawson. Marky's in the basement right now. He's having more fun than he's going to verbally admit. He's all stoic like that." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of Skittles. "Oh yeah, I forgot I had that in there." He ripped it open with his teeth and poured a whole bunch of them in his mouth. "Fuck, I love these things just as much as killing people."

Adam wasn't sure if the guy was joking about that last part, and he didn't want to find out. He quickly started pulling Matt up the stairs as fast as he could. "I think we need to talk to Mark about the people he knows," he said quietly when they reached the second floor.

"I'm not going to disagree with you there," Matt said. He opened the door Mark told him that Jeff was in. "Jeff?"

Jeff, who was laying on the bed wearing clothes that were two sizes too large for him, raised his head up slightly. His face was bruised and swollen, and it was easy to see just how badly Dave had put him through the ringer. "Matty? Adam?"

Adam gulped and leaned back against the wall. The guilt that was filling him was indescribable. This was all his fault. Jeff had suffered because Matt had stepped in to protect him. He wanted to look away from Jeff because of his own shame, but he couldn't. Jeff's face looked like his used to when he had been on the receiving end of Dave's abuse.

Matt quickly walked over to his brother and hugged him tightly. "Oh God Jeff, I was so worried!" he half said, half whispered. "Fuck, I should have known something like this was going to happen. I should have--"

"Matt please don't," Jeff pleaded quietly. His voice was weak and hoarse at the moment. "Don't start blaming yourself. I just want to get out of here and forget this whole thing happened." His swollen eyes looked at Adam. "Addy?"

"Yeah?" Adam wasn't sure how he got his voice to work, but he managed it.

"I don't want you to blame yourself either. It's not your fault."

"How can you even say that?" Adam replied. "Look at you! Look at what he did to you!"

Matt held out his hands and tried to calm Adam down. "Baby let's not--"

Jeff managed to sit up, stifling a moan of pain as he did. "Adam, you are going to stop blaming yourself this instant or I'm going to make Mark beat you up! Do you understand me?"

Adam just nodded. He knew Jeff wasn't joking about that. And seeing as how the Deadman did just about anything for Jeff, that wasn't a threat to take lightly. "Okay," he said quietly. "I'll try to stop."

Jeff laid back down. "Good boy."

Matt rolled his eyes as he scooped his younger brother into his arms. "He's not a pet Jeff."

"Sure he is," Jeff insisted. "He's your lover and he's my pet. It all works out beautifully for both of us."

"Well as long as you promise not to get kidnapped again, I'll go along with whatever the hell you want me to," Adam said as they left the room. "Or if you do get kidnapped, try not to end up in a place with Mark's creepy friends. That James guy makes me feel like I should run away."

Matt sighed. "Baby, he's friends with Mark. How bad could he possibly really be?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Mark swung the bat again, the nails immediately digging into Dave's stomach. He was back to this weapon yet again. This was the third time he had restarted with this thing. There were puncture wounds all over the Animal's body, and the sight of the blood dripping out of them was just making him want to hit the bastard even more.

"Kallabunga!" James shouted as he leapt over the staircase railing and landed on the floor. "Adam and Matt are here and they are taking Jeff, so we have the whole place to ourselves."

Mark traded the bat for the bleach James was holding. "Good," he said as he unscrewed the lid to the container. "I don't want them walking in to see this."

James rolled his eyes. "Why not Marky? You're not ashamed of me, are you?"

"They just don't need to see what I'm doing at the moment," Mark replied He began pouring the bleach over Dave's wounds, earning a whole bunch of muffled screams from the upside down man.

"Or you just don't want them to see what you really are," James remarked. He began twirling the bat around in his hands. "They don't know the real you, now do they?"

"Don't start your psychobabble bullshit James. I am not in the mood to hear it."

James wasn't going to listen though. He never really did. "If you love Jeff so much, why aren't you with him? Why do you just pine for him like a stupid puppy and deny yourself of what you really want?"

Mark threw the empty container of bleach at James's head. "I am not talking to you about Jeff. I know EXACTLY how you feel about him and if this is your way of talking against him again, I'll fucking kill you after I'm done with Dave."

Dave said something that was completely muffled. His face was all red and kind of bloated from being hung upside down for so long.

"I'm just trying to get a handle on the situation here Marky," James replied. The tone in his voice indicated that he was starting to get pissed. "Are you feeling guilty or something? Do you feel guilty about what you are deep down inside? Is that it? Is that your whole deal over Jeff? Because I saw the way you looked at him. You never even used to look at me that way. It seems to me like you have him on this fucking pedestal and you think you don't deserve him or something."

"Damn it Lawson!" Mark growled angrily. "Stop being insightful!" He kicked Dave so he could resist the urge to throttle James.

James cocked his head to the side. A look of understanding was starting to come over his face. "Or are you afraid he'll find out the truth and he won't want you anymore? You think you'll lose him if he ever finds out the truth. And you can't just assure yourself that he'll never find out, because he could, so you would rather just never have him instead of having and then losing him."

Mark glared at James. For a complete psycho, James had a scary understanding of the human mind. _It doesn't help that he's known me for so damn long. The man always knows what's going on in my head._

James chuckled. "That's what I thought it was." He looked over at Dave. "You're at a crossroads here Marky. You can stay here in the dark with me and torture Dave some more, or you can just kill him so you can go check on Jeff. What are you going to choose?"

Mark didn't wait long to choose. He grabbed James's knife out of his own pocket and drove the blade into Dave's heart. He could stay in the dark, torturing the bastard and listen to James some more. But the truth was, he suddenly felt the urge to just go to the hospital and be by Jeff's side. And he wasn't going to deny that urge at the moment.

James sighed and shook his head. "I guess this means I'm cleaning up the mess. Fucking selfish bastard. This is the last time I give you advice."

Mark stopped and turned around to face James. His psycho ex had a dark look on his face. "James--"

"Just go," James ordered. He pulled Mark away from Dave and shoved him hard. "Go to your fucking new toy. See if I give a shit."

Mark wanted to point out that James was the one who had almost seemed to be encouraging him to go to Jeff in the first place, but he didn't. There was no point in doing that. James had his own twisted logic to things, and odds were that he would hear about it later. James wasn't the type to let go easily, so they would probably be having this whole conversation again in the future. _Fuck, I can never just have it easy, can I?_ Mark asked as he walked up the stairs. _Jeff's a complete sweetheart and I love him, but James…well he's not going to go away and I don't exactly want him too, no matter what I say otherwise. Damn it to hell, I hate being me sometimes. I really fucking do._


	18. Chapter 18

Matt was relieved to find out that Jeff was going to suffer no long term physical damage from what Dave had done to him. His broken bones would heal without surgery and the damage to his insides from the rape would heal by itself if just given enough time. As for the what kind of emotional and mental damage had been done, that had yet to really be determined. Matt knew Jeff was trying to stay strong for him and Adam, but it was obvious what had happened had rattled him to his very core. It was going to be quite awhile before he was back to really being normal.

"Does everyone else know what's going on?" Jeff asked. He was laying in between Adam and Matt, who were doing their best to comfort him in any way they could.

Matt nodded. "I told Randy and he's going to making the calls. I don't know if they'll get here before you're released in the morning, but at least they'll know."

Adam absently played with Jeff's hair. "Mark should be here soon. He said he would meet us here."

Jeff chewed on his lip ring. "What do you think he's doing to Dave?"

"I don't know," Matt said. "I hope he sends the dirty rotten bastard to hell, but that's just me."

"Well your wish is my command Hardy. It's already done."

Matt, Adam and Jeff looked up to see Mark standing by the doorway. The weight of his words were not lost on Matt. "Did you, I mean, did you seriously--"

"He's rotting in hell right about now," Mark said with a nod. "I did what had to be done. I had to end this once and for all."

Adam and Jeff both sank down on the bed. The relief on their faces was indescribable. Matt put his arm over both of them as best as he could. "Thank you," he said to Mark. "Seriously, thank you man. And thank James for me too while you're at it. He helped save Jeff."

Mark shook his head. "I think the last thing James wants me to do at this point is thank him. He's not entirely happy with me right now."

"Why not?" Adam asked.

"We got into a fight before I left. It's nothing you guys need to worry about. I'll try to talk some sense into him later if I can." Mark sat down in the chair beside the bed. "Right now, let's just be thankful we can have some peace and quiet without having to look over our shoulders for psychotic assholes who don't know how to let go."

Matt sensed that there was more to the story than Mark was telling them, but he decided now was not the right time to bug the Deadman about it. The way Jeff reached out and grabbed Mark's hand also helped to silence any questions he was about to ask anyway.

"Mark," Jeff said quietly. "Mark…"

"I'm here," Mark assured him. He kissed Jeff's hand gently. "I'm right here for you."

"You found me back at that house. You saved me."

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a hero?" Jeff asked with a small smile.

Mark shook his head. He had a serious look on his face. "I'm not the hero Jeff. I've never been one before and I don't think I ever will be in the future. I'm just the bad guy who happened to do the right thing this time."

Now it was Jeff's turn to shake his head. "You'll never be the bad guy to me Mark. Nothing could ever make me think you were."

"Aw, that's romantic," Adam cooed happily.

Matt shook his head because of the look Mark gave him. "Honey, I wouldn't talk right now if I were you."

Adam rolled off the bed and then pulled Matt off it too. "Come on, let's leave the love birds alone."

Matt rolled his eyes as he was dragged out of the room. "I'm sure the two of them really appreciated that. And why are we coming out here? You know I don't want to leave Jeff all alone in there."

"I know, but Mark can watch him," Adam said. He dragged Matt into the empty cafeteria and then pulled him so close that their faces were only inches apart. "Besides, Jeff complains when I do this in front of him."

Matt grinned as Adam kissed him. Okay, so Jeff did complain when they started making out in front of him. But he also had the feeling Adam had wanted to talk to him all alone. "Something on your mind?" he asked as they broke apart.

Adam kind of half nodded and half shook his head. "Maybe."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Baby, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's on your mind."

Adam just shifted from foot to foot. "I just…I don't know. I mean, Mark says Dave's gone and I believe what he says, but it still feels like the bastard is going to come back somehow and get me. I didn't want to talk that way in front of Jeff, so that's kind of why I wanted us to go off alone."

Matt nodded in understanding. He understood why Adam was still afraid. Adam had suffered months and months under Dave's abuse. The damage wasn't going to be undone completely any time soon. "It's okay baby. I get why you didn't want to say that in front of Jeff. And I know you don't fully believe it now, but Dave is gone. Mark doesn't leave any job not done. He takes care of his shit, no matter how fucked up it is." He squeezed Adam's hand reassuringly. "And I will make damn sure nobody ever hurts you like he did ever again. I'll fucking die to protect you."

Adam looked horrified. "Don't you ever fucking die on me Mat! You hear me? I'll kill you if you are ever dumb enough to do that!" He frowned as he realized what he had just said. "Wait, that did not make sense whatsoever."

Matt laughed and kissed Adam again. "I get what you meant. And don't worry, I don't plan to die any time soon."

"Good," Adam said. "I'd be sad if you did."

"Well the same thing goes to you if you decide to leave me like that." Matt wrapped his arm around Adam's shoulder. "Come on, let's go see if Mark and Jeff got the courage to make out with each other yet. That's been years of sexual tension just waiting to get out."

"Don't you think Mark will be pissed if we walked in on them making out?"

"Since when do Mark's feelings matter in all this?"

"Good point. Okay, I'm on board now."

"Awesome. But if Mark gets pissed, we're running."

"Oh hell yeah. I'll be way ahead of you Matt."

XXXXXXXXX

**A/N: Okay, here's the deal: I'm planning on doing one or two more chapters on this one before moving on to the sequel. The sequel will have plenty of Matt/Adam moments since Adam still is completely fixed from the damage Dave has done, but I want to focus it more on Mark and Jeff, or at least I did until my James muse stuck his nose in my story. And since the Mark/James/Jeff pairing is actually winning the poll on my profile page so far, should that be the pairing I use in the sequel? Just tell me what you think in your reviews or send me a message of some sort so I know if you guys are on board with that plan.**


	19. Chapter 19

Adam found that it was really hard to sleep that night. It didn't help that he and Matt were trying to sleep on the same bed as Jeff while Mark got the other one all to himself. The hospital beds were just not big enough for three people to sleep in comfortably. Another thing that didn't help him was the fact that Jeff was having nightmares. He kept waking everyone up by screaming his head off, absolutely convinced that Dave had come back from the dead and was going to rape him again. The very thought of zombie Dave scared Adam out of his mind, and it triggered his own nightmares. By three in the morning, both he and Jeff were both wide awake and complete messes.

"That's it," Mark finally said. He got out of his bed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Adam, Matt, you two trade me spots. Matt, you're going to focus on calming Adam down and I'll take care of Jeff."

Adam saw the look on Matt's face. The brunette was obviously in overprotective mode and that meant he was going to put up a fuss about that suggestion. "Baby it's Mark," Adam pointed out. "If he wants to trade us spots, he'll just physically move us if we don't get the hell out of the way."

"Just do it Matty," Jeff pleaded. "We're overcrowded over here and none of us are getting any sleep."

Matt sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll switch. But you keep your hands to yourself Deadman."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Or you'll tear them off along with my dick. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've all heard those threats from you before Hardy. Come up with some new shit."

Adam let out a tired giggle. Matt looked so damn disgruntled and pouty as they laid back down on the other bed. If he wasn't so exhausted, he would start a full make-out session with him right then and there. He wasn't even joking about that.

Matt raised his eyebrows. "What's so funny?"

"You are," Adam said. He snuggled up close to Matt and rested his head in the crook of the dark haired man's neck. "You're adorable when you pout, do you know that?"

"I bet I'm not half as cute as you are."

"Oh God, here we go," Jeff groaned. "Mark, grab the bedpan; I'm about to be sick."

Adam frowned and looked back so he could glare at Jeff. "What is THAT supposed to mean?"

"It means your mushy crap makes me sick to my stomach," Jeff replied. "God, you two are worse than schoolgirls."

Mark groaned. "Great. Now I'm picturing them both as schoolgirls and I'm scarred for life. That's just wonderful."

"I think I would make a sexy schoolgirl," Adam pouted as he turned away from the mean Deadman and Rainbow Haired Warrior. "Wouldn't I make a sexy schoolgirl Matt?"

Matt thought about it and quickly got a glazed over look in his eyes. "Wow…that's a mental picture I am keeping forever."

Adam grinned and kissed him, causing Mark and Jeff to both make loud, exaggerated gagging noises. "Fuck you guys," he snapped irritably as he closed his eyes. Now that he was more comfortable and with Matt rubbing his back soothingly, he managed to fall asleep. And this time he didn't have a nightmare about zombie Dave. No, this time he dreamt that he, Matt and Jeff were walking in a forest, completely lost and confused. They were trying to find the road, but they ended up finding a cabin instead. Standing outside the cabin were Mark and James, only both of them were wearing masks that would be seen at a masquerade ball or something. Before Adam could even begin to figure out what the hell all that meant, Dave's body fell out of a nearby tree and he woke up to the sound of James's high pitched laughter. "Okay, that was weird," he muttered under the breath.

"Unpleasant dreams?"

Adam nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the voice. He sat straight up, almost disturbing Matt in the process. The clock on the wall said it was a quarter after seven now. Jeff was practically sleeping on top of Mark and the image was cute as hell. But from the looks of things, the intruder in the room didn't seem to think so. Or if he did, it was pissing him off. "James?"

James nodded. His eyes were fixated completely on Mark and Jeff. "I always liked watching Mark sleep. He doesn't know, because he would smack me for being a stupid sap. But sometimes I go for days without sleeping, and when I was with him, I would wait until he was asleep and then I would just watch him. I've even drawn pictures of him." His face twisted into a sneer. "And then Jeff stole him from me."

Adam frowned. "Uh…they're actually not together."

"Oh but they want to be. I saw the look they gave each other when Mark came to my house to get him. They're nuts about each other." James smirked. "But when dear old Marky and I got in a fight earlier, I saw the look he gave me before he left. He actually gave a shit that he upset me. It was almost cute." He shook his head. "I don't know what to do Adam. Take Jeff out of the picture…leave them alone…or hell, maybe even I could have Jeff too. What's mine has always been Mark's and vice versa. Who said Jeff would be any different?"

"You've got serious mental issues," Adam said. He hadn't known James for all that long, but it was easy to come up with that conclusion. "Have you considered seeing a psychiatrist?"

James glared at him. "Shush you. I didn't ask for your opinion." He leaned over and kissed Mark on the forehead. Adam almost started shaking Matt to wake him up when he saw how close James was to Jeff. But the obviously unstable man only grinned and kissed Jeff on the head. "Were you expecting me to do something else?"

Adam just stared at James as he laughed and left the room. The laughter woke Mark up, and he didn't even really look surprised. "Was James just here?" he asked quietly so he wouldn't disturb Jeff.

"Yeah," Adam said with a nod. He told Mark about the entire conversation that had just taken place.

Mark just sighed. "Damn it to hell. I don't even want to think about what James has going on in his sick and twisted mind right now. I'm too tired."

"Yeah, but do you still care about the whack job?"

Mark didn't answer. He just looked down at Jeff, who was starting to stir. Adam sighed, knowing he wasn't going to get anything else out of the Deadman at the moment. He turned back to Matt, who was just starting to open his eyes. "Hey baby," Adam said.

"Hey," Matt replied. He started to say something more but Adam's phone rang. "Damn it, who the hell is calling you right now?"

"I don't know," Adam said. He grabbed his phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello Adam," Cody said cheerfully.

"Damn it Rhodes, why are you even up?"

"I had Red Bull and I have wings now!"

"No, you do not have wings!" Randy yelled from Cody's end of the line. "Now quit bugging people! Someone is going to kill you for this!"

"Silence infidel! I have to tell Adam about the party!"

"What party?" Adam asked.

"The party to celebrate Dave's death and you and Jeff's well being!" Cody cackled madly. "It's going to be fun, so if you're not smiling and having a good time, I will KEEL you!"

Adam frowned as he was hung up on. Very slowly, he hung up his own phone and looked at Mark, Jeff and Matt, who were all just staring at him. "Cody is never to have Red Bull again," he said gravely. "Do you understand me?"

Everyone nodded.

"Good. Now let's get something to eat. I am starving."


	20. Chapter 20

Flashback: While Matt and Adam went off and had their own little conversation in the hospital

_Jeff shifted around on his hospital bed nervously. He and Mark were now all alone in the hospital room. He was all alone with the man he had been crushing on for months and he currently was not wearing underwear. Gah! Wait! He couldn't let himself think about that. That would lead to him blurting out something awkward and he didn't want to do that. He had to keep his cool. He had to say something not awkward. "Do you roll your eyes in the back of your head when you have sex?"_

_Mark looked at him in surprise. "What?"_

_Jeff put his hand over his mouth. He had not meant to ask that (even though he had been wondering that for years). That had been a complete accident. "Nothing," he said as he turned a deep shade of red. "I said nothing."_

_Luckily Mark's cell phone rang, saving Jeff from making even more of an idiot out of himself. "It's Glenn," Mark said as he looked at it. "You want me to put it on speaker phone so you can talk to him too?"_

_"Yeah," Jeff said. "But why is Glenn's ringtone _Barbie Girl_?"_

_"Because James is an asshole who messes with my stuff and doesn't tell me how to put it back to normal," Mark replied. He answered his phone with a sigh. "Hey Glenn?"_

_"Oh it's not just Glenn here buddy," Jay said. "We're all here because we want to know how Jeff is doing."_

_"They're hijacking my phone," Glenn complained. He sounded like he was pouting._

_"Hi guys," Jeff said tiredly. It was nice to know how much everyone cared about him. "I'm okay I guess. I hate being in this hospital."_

_"Well we're planning on heading out to Cameron and getting everything ready for you for when you come home," Randy informed him. "You're going to have a nice little surprise when you get here."_

_Mark groaned. "Oh God. You guys and surprises never ends very well."_

_"Oh shut up Mark," Glenn snapped. "Don't spoil this for us. Jeff likes our surprises. Don't you Jeff?"_

_"Hey, as long as you don't break any of my things, I don't care what you do," Jeff said._

_"Great," Morrison said. "But there's one thing we need to address: Batista. What happened to him? Is he in jail? A coma? Did his own evil forces destroy him?"_

_"No, MY evil forces destroyed him," Mark said. "He's dead. I killed him."_

_There was a complete silence on the other line. Jeff bit his lip, not liking that he couldn't see the expression on everyone else's faces. He didn't want them to not look at Mark the same way again because of this. He just wanted everything to go back to normal so he could forget this whole nightmare had ever happened._

_"You killed him?" Evan said in disbelief. "Like really killed him?"_

_"Yes Bourne, I really killed him," Mark confirmed._

_"Well Jesus Mark, just because we always said you would kill him didn't mean you were actually supposed to do it," Phil said. "Now Shawn's grabbing his Bible and muttering under his breath and John looks like he's about to ask you if you're going to end up in jail and be someone's bitch."_

_"I'm not going to jail," Mark said. His tone indicated that the others had better not fight him on this fact. "Nobody is going to find a body. An old friend of mine will see to that."_

_"An old friend huh?" Glenn said in a dark voice. "I wonder who that could be."_

_Jeff frowned as a strange look crossed Mark's face. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly. "Mark--"_

_"I did what needed to be done Glenn," Mark said quietly, ignoring Jeff completely. "We were in his territory and I knew he would help me."_

_"Wait, who are we talking about now?" Cody asked. "I'm confused."_

_"Who cares who he's talking about now?" Ted interrupted. "Mark, you killed a dude! I know that he deserved it, but don't you think that you should at least be a little bit worried about it? I mean, especially if it doesn't look like self defense! I don't know what you did, but knowing you, it was obviously premeditated. And that's not a good thing if the cops--"_

_"The cops aren't going to know a damn thing!" Mark growled vehemently. "There will be no body and there will be no evidence! James knows how to dispose of a fucking body! Now if you can excuse me, I have crappy room service to order for Jeff."_

_Jeff just stared at Mark as he hung up the phone. He had never seen Mark that agitated before. "You okay?" he asked timidly._

_"Yeah," Mark said quietly. "I just…this whole thing…I'm just tired and cranky, okay? And I can't deal with their concerns when I'm still trying to calm down from being scared out of my mind. Fuck, I didn't know if I was going to find you in one piece Jeff."_

_"Well you did," Jeff said. "You--_

Jeff's memory was interrupted by Matt stopping the car in his driveway. He was finally back home. Only it didn't exactly look like his house anymore. "Son of a bitch!" he said in disbelief. "What the hell did they do?"

XXXXXXXXX

_Now that's the million dollar question,_ Matt thought to himself as he and the others got out of the car. It looked like someone had taken several different cans of paint and just tossed them at the place. It was like Extreme Home Makeover: the extremely crappy edition. "What the fuck?" he said out loud.

Jay came out of the house at that moment. "Jeff, we are so sorry," he apologized. "Cody went nuts on his Red Bull high and he thought your place needed a makeover. We're going to repaint your place for you once we party a little bit."

Matt shook his head. Adam had definitely been right earlier. Cody was never allowed to have Red Bull again. "Where is the hyper little asshole now?"

"He crashed about twenty minutes ago. Randy and Ted put some make-up and a dress on him and then left him down on the couch. We're going to tell him that he did that to himself once he wakes up."

Mark rolled his eyes. "Oh great. It's nice to see how mature you guys are."

Jeff giggled. "I like it. I think we should put some heels on him too."

Matt grinned and watched as Jay pulled Jeff into the house and Mark followed him. Now he and Adam were all alone outside. "So are you ready for this little shindig?" he asked.

Adam frowned. "Did you just use the word shindig?"

"Yup. You got a problem with that."

"No. I just haven't heard that word used in…well who am I kidding? I can't even remember the last time I heard that word used."

Matt chuckled and put his arm around Adam. "Well it's better than what Jeff says. He likes to call parties hootenannies."

Adam shook his head and wrapped his arm around Matt's neck. "But he's all childlike, so it's not weird when he uses words like that. He's the baby of the group."

"Yeah, he's the baby, I'm the brains, Mark's the brawn, and you're the cute one," Matt said.

Adam turned a deep shade of red. "Stop that," he ordered. "I'm not cute."

"Sure you are," Matt insisted. "You are the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life." He put one hand on Adam's waist and the other on his back and dipped the blonde almost all the way back.

"Would you two stop that?" Ted yelled out the window. "I can see you every time I look this direction!"

Matt put Adam back on his feet and grinned. "You want to ditch the children and go back to my place?"

Adam nodded eagerly. "Definitely."

So they got back into Matt's car and drove to his place. They began kissing and groping each other before they even got into the house, and for a minute, Matt thought they were going to stop and have sex right there on the doorstep. But at the last minute, Matt managed to get the door unlocked and they fell into the house with a thud, scaring poor Lucas out of his mind.

"Sorry Lucas," Matt said as he kicked the door shut behind them. He could lock it later. Right now, he was focused on kissing Adam and feeling every inch of the Rated R Superstar's body.

"Matt," Adam panted as they peeled each other's shirts off. "Oh God Matt."

Matt kissed his way down Adam's body, removing both of their jeans in the process. Every inch of Adam tasted so damn sweet, and Matt couldn't get enough of it. However, he now realized they had one small problem. "Damn it, I don't have the lube," he muttered. He grinned as another idea popped into his mind.

Adam frowned. "Why are you grinning? What are you--oh God!" he moaned as Matt's tongue slipped into his entrance.

Matt pushed his tongue even deeper inside of Adam, enjoying the way the blonde was writhing around underneath him. Feeling Adam's tightness around his tongue made him even more horny than he already was, and his cock was just begging to be inside of his boyfriend.

Adam writhed around desperately, clawing at the floor, himself and Matt's hair. "Oh fuck…oh God…I need you Matt."

Matt just continued massaging Adam's asshole with his tongue, wanting to hear his love beg just a little bit more.

"Matt!" Adam nearly screamed. "Damn it Matt, fuck me already! Don't torture like this!"

Feeling very satisfied with himself, Matt replaced his tongue with his dick. He and Adam both groaned at the same time, and he paused to give Adam some time to adjust. "You ready?" he asked a moment later.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. I need you to move."

That was all Matt needed to hear. He began moving in and out of Adam, loving the tight friction his lover provided him. "You're fucking beautiful, you know that?" he said to Adam as he nipped on his ear. "Do you even realize what you do to me?"

Adam closed his eyes, the bliss clearly written on his face. "I think I have a pretty good idea what I do to you," he gasped out.

Matt grinned. "Good. I hope you know what you do. It makes doing this all the more enjoyable." He wrapped Adam's legs around his waist and plunged in even deeper, his pace quickening and his control slipping away from him. "Adam…"

"Matt…"

"Oh God Adam…"

"Matt…oh fuck Matt…"

They both came at the same time, screaming each other's names at the same time. Matt collapsed on top of Adam, and he rested his face deep inside the crook of the other man's neck. "Oh fuck," he said as he tried to regain his breath.

Adam wrapped his arms around Matt. "I could stay here forever," he said quietly.

"The floor?" Matt said in confusion.

"No dummy. Your arms. It's safe here in your arms." He kissed Matt on the jaw. "You're my protector. You're the only one who ever made me feel safe in a long time."

Matt grinned. "Well get used to that feeling Addy. I don't plan on letting you go any time soon." He got up and then scooped Adam into his arms.

"Where are we going?" Adam asked.

"We're going to do round two somewhere a little more comfortable," Matt said with a grin. "And there might even be a round three if you keep being so damn irresistible."

"Jesus Matt, are you planning to fuck me until I pass out?"

"Yup. You got a problem with that?"

Adam grinned. "No, of course not. In fact, I think it's the best plan you've ever come up with in all the years we've known each other."

Matt grinned back at him. "Good. I'm glad you agree. Because that is officially my plan for today and the next day and the next day and the next day…"

Adam sighed. "You're lucky I love you or I would tell you to calm down you fucking horndog."

"Aw, how sweet. I love you too baby."

**XXXXXXXXXXX**

**A/N: I love those two together! They are so sweet (well, not all the time, but they are in this fic). Anyway, I'm hoping I can start the sequel to this sometime tomorrow or the day after that, and as I said earlier, it will have plenty of Matam moments along with the insanity that will be Mark/James/Jeff. **


End file.
